& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

20 militants killed in west Afghanistan

Pentagon seeks to double size of Afghan army

AP, AFP, Kabul/ Washington
About 20 Taliban fighters were killed in a battle with Afghan and US-led forces near a key military supply route in western Afghanistan, a provincial official said yesterday.
Younus Rasouli, deputy governor of Farah province, said police attacked a village in Bala Buluk district Friday after being informed that Taliban militants had ordered residents out and taken it over to use as a base. The police called in air support from the US-led coalition during the gun battle, Rasouli said.
Coalition spokesman 1st Lt. Nathan Perry confirmed that fighter aircraft engaged in combat in Bala Buluk on Friday for about an hour. He said there were no' coalition casualties but did not “■pYwVidt! fill (tier dPlSllsS* “ “ '
Bala Buluk includes sections of
the highway between the cities of Kandahar and Herat and the main road to Farah city. Rasouli said the militants were suspected of planning attacks on convoys supplying American and Nato bases in the region.
Rasouli said residents had completely abandoned the village, Seya Jang, so there were no civilian casualties from the fighting. He said the militants had retreated from the village, which was back under police control.
Fighting has spread into areas such as Farah this year as the six-year-old Taliban-led insurgency has gathered steam. Nato says the surge in fighting is partly because there are more Afghan and international troops to mount patrols in remote areas.
- Meanwhile, US Defance ”S?tTt t c*Tt ""UlW s"*h^5
endorsed 4 17-billiondollar plan tp
double the size of the Afghan army over five years, the Pentagon said Friday.
Under the plan, the Afghan army would grow from 65,00 to 122,00 active duty soldiers by 2014, said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, adding that it also includes upgrades to Afghanistan's fledgling air corps.
"It's an Afghan government plan he (Gates) has endorsed, and we are now working to achieve," Morrell said.
He said the planning was still in the early stages, but the Pentagon estimates it will cost 17 billion dollars over five years to train, equip and double the size of the force.
"Now who would pay for that? Those are the discussions we are just now beginning to enter into. It would be wrong to assume we are gmrtg ip'khoulder tfip- burteA-alone,"he told reporter's. ‘ 1