30 Killed in Taliban Ambush

Taliban fighters have killed 30 people in an ambush in southern Afghanistan, officials said today.

It happened in the increasingly volatile Helmand province, where more than 3,000 British troops are based.

The ambush began when Taliban forces attacked vehicles carrying a former district chief, killing him and four of his bodyguards, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.

Several hours later, around 40 of the dead official's relatives went to collect his body and were ambushed with the loss of 25 lives, his brother, Dad Mohammed Khan, said.

Mr Khan, an Afghan MP and the former Helmand intelligence chief, said four other people were wounded and 10 remained missing. "We don't know whether they are dead or alive," he added.

In a separate clash, Afghan and US-led soldiers killed seven militants in the neighbouring province of Uruzgan in a large-scale anti-Taliban offensive that began last week.

US-led troops, backed by Afghan forces, raided a mountainous Taliban stronghold near Tirin Kot, Uruzgan's provincial capital, yesterday. An Afghan military commander said seven militants were killed in the operation.

Four injured militants were arrested in three hours of fighting, while others escaped into the mountains, General Rahmatullah Roufi said.

Britain has committed 3,300 troops to Helmand as part of an increased NATO presence in southern Afghanistan, deployed amid fears that Taliban forces are gaining strength.

More than 600 people, mostly militants, have been killed in the past month amid increasingly bold attacks against US-led forces.

Eight days ago, the first British soldier was killed in action in southern Afghanistan. Captain Jim Philippson, of 7 Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, died when Taliban fighters fired on his armoured Land Rover in Sangin, in the north-east of Helmand.

A force of around 11,000 British, US, Canadian and Afghan troops has been deployed in four southern provinces, including Uruzgan, to search for Taliban militants in an operation known as Operation Mountain Thrust.

It is the largest military offensive since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001. Around 1090 suspected militants have been killed since it began last week, while at least nine soldiers have died since mid-May.