April 3, 2011

QALAT (PAN): A joint Afghan-international security force raided a house in southern Zabul province, killing a woman and her husband, local officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday night in Khan Koro area of Shah Joy district, the deputy governor, Mohammad Jan Rasulyar, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the husband, Naimatullah, and his wife were killed by the joint force after he opened fire at the forces. He said the woman was killed after her husband used her as human shield to protect himself from being killed.

Two Kalashnikovs and a remote-controlled bomb were recovered from the house, the official said.

International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said a combined Afghan and coalition force killed a Taliban facilitator during a security operation in Shah Joy district on Saturday.

An Afghan civilian was accidentally killed in the engagement when the security force received small-arms fire from the targeted building and returned fire in response, killing the insurgent, the force said in statement.

The security force cleared the building, where they found the armed insurgent dead along with an Afghan civilian. The security force was unaware of the Afghan civilian’s presence until they cleared the building after the engagement, it said.

"Naimatullah had no links with Taliban fighters and he was a farmer," a resident of Shah Joy district, Abdul Hakim, said.

myn/ma