Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai gave Taliban loyalists in his province 48 hours to leave Afghanistan. The warning came hours after his soldiers killed two Taliban fighters and captured seven others with bombs and ammunition near the town of Spinboldak.
Two men were caught with remote control explosives near the U.S. base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Afghan officials announced their forces had killed more than 50 suspectd Taliban rebels in fighting in the Badghis province, and captured Mullah Badar and Juma Khan.
The United Nations extended a ban on travel for its staff in southern Afghanistan to give local authorities time to improve security in the area where a foreign aid worker was murdered a weak earlier.
The U.N. special investigator for human rights in Afghanistan, Kamal Hossain, told the United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva that insufficient funding for Afghanistan could jeopardize the development of such groups as the army and police, which are important to ensure stability. He added that the absence of enough security forces would embolden warlords around the country to harass different ethnic tribes and to roll back educational opportunities for women and girls. To date, Afghanistan had received almost $2 billion out the $4.5 billion pledged by the international community.
The humanitarian projects board of the U.S.-led coalition approved 19 assistance and reconstruction projects valued at $722,000. The projects included water improvement and the construction of medical clinics and schools in 10 provinces.
Afghan militia soldiers (number about 250) and U.S.-led coalition plane-strikes killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in the Tor Ghar mountains near Spinboldak, Afghanistan. One Afghan militia member was killed and three others were injured. Fifteen suspects were taken into custody. In the cleanup the soldiers also found and confiscated light machine guns, bomb-making materials, improvised explosive devices, two trucks, two motorcycles and ammunition. More than 35,000 pounds of ordnance were dropped or fired from five types of aircraft — Harrier jets, B-1 bombers, A-10 Thunderbolts and helicopter gunships — on the rebel positions.
Haji Gilani and his nephew were killed outside their home in Deh Rawood, Afghanistan by six gunmen. According to witnesses, one of the gunmen was Mardan Khan, whose brother was a Taliban commander, but no arrests were made.
A deminer from U.S. military contractor Ronco lost his right foot after stepping on a mine near the Bagram base in Afghanistan.
U.S. soldiers called in B-1 bombers and A-10 aircraft after three explosions apparently caused by rockets shook a U.S. military post in the Asadabad, Afghanistan. The planes did not strike.
A 9-year-old Afghan boy was evacuated from Deh Rahwood to a U.S.-led base in Kandahar after suffering a bullet wound to the leg.
Afghan forces mounted an operation near Spinboldak against 50 to 60 suspected terrorists. Two government soldiers were killed and one wounded in the fighting. Seven suspected terrorists were captured.
Speaking on Afghan television, the Information and Culture Minister, Makhdum Rahin, said that the country was making progress in encouraging an independent media. He also encouraged Afghanistan's young journalists to criticize the government and himself personally, when mistakes were made.
In Islamabad, Shaukat Aziz announced that Pakistan would actively participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and undertake various development projects for the welfare of its people. Aziz said that a Pakistani private construction company has obtained a 25 million U.S. dollar contract to build a road link from Chaman to Kandahar and a 30 million US dollar sub-contract in other reconstruction projects.
A U.S. armored Humvee struck a landmine near Kandahar, Afghanistan. No one was injured. The mine caused major damage to the front end of the vehicle.
Afghan troops, following a trail in the Dara-e-Noor mountains north of Kandahar, stumbled on tents and mud huts that appeared to be a base for about 30 rebel fighters.
