Air strikes, fighting kill 28 in Afghanistan: governor of Omna, three sons die

Air strikes, gunbattles and attacks killed 28 people across Afghanistan on Wednesday, including a government official shot dead with three of his sons near the Pakistani border, officials said. In the latest bloodshed, blamed on Taliban rebels who recently vowed to step up attacks against the Western-backed government, a district governor and his grown-up sons were ambushed and killed in the east, the interior ministry said.
Mohammad Nader, governor of the Omna district in the eastern province of Paktika, was travelling with his family to go back home near the Pakistan border when armed insurgents attacked, the ministry said. "Police reinforcements have been dispatched to the area and an operation is underway," the ministry said in a statement.
The governor exchanged fire with his attackers but it was unclear whether the assailants suffered any casualties, it added. The interior ministry and local government in Paktika blamed the attack on the Taliban, who have strongholds in the province along the porous border with Pakistan, where militants have carved out safe havens in the mountains.
Elsewhere in Paktia, Afghan security forces backed by Nato troops and air power killed at least 15 insurgents in the early hours, the alliance said. The insurgents were killed in air strikes and gunbattles after attacking the combined troops during a security patrol, the statement said.
"After a five-hour fire fight, (troops) conducted an assessment of the area, finding 15 dead insurgents, numerous small arms and a mortar system," the Nato statement said. Attack helicopters and jet fighters "engaged" the rebels but neither Afghan nor Nato troops suffered casualties, it added.