An estimated 60 people, including Taliban militants, died when their boat sank while crossing a river in Afghanistan's most dangerous province Saturday, the Defence Ministry said. The Afghan army was investigating to see how many Taliban insurgents and how many civilians were on board, the ministry said.
The boat sank while crossing the Helmand River, which snakes through Helmand province. Helmand has been the scene of some of the worst fighting in recent months between Western forces and Taliban guerrillas. A Nato helicopter crashed, possibly as a result of enemy fire, in the province on Wednesday, killing seven soldiers.
Western and Afghan forces launched a major operation in Helmand this week, aimed at trapping Taliban guerrillas around the Sangin Valley and in the area of the Kajaki dam, a critical hydro-electric project.
About 2,000 Nato, Afghan and US troops were involved in the operation in Helmand, a traditional Taliban stronghold and Afghanistan's biggest opium poppy growing region. The Defence Ministry said on Saturday that 20 enemy fighters had been killed in the operation. British officials put the Taliban toll in the dozens.
Two Afghan soldiers were killed and two wounded in the operation, the ministry said. In Ghazni province, five relatives of a well-known local militia commander were killed when Taliban guerrillas attacked his home in the Jaghori district on Friday, according to Ghazni governor Merajuddin Patan. The militants killed the wife, two sons and two nephews of Bashi Habibullah, Patan said. Police killed 10 Taliban in an ensuing clash, he said.