Afghan air strike kills 20 Taliban at religious school

KABUL: A rocket attack on an Afghan religious school killed about 20 Taliban insurgents exchanging fire with security forces, officials said on Friday, adding that no children were among the victims. The insurgents had taken shelter at the school compound in the central eastern province of Wardak, 35 km (20 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, when the air strike hit late on Wednesday, the officials said.
International forces that conduct most of the air strikes across the country were not immediately available for comment. Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for the governor of Wardak, said there were no civilian casualties, adding that all the pupils had gone home before the air strike. Foreign troops have stepped up air strikes in Afghanistan in recent months as Afghan forces struggle against a resilient Taliban insurgency. The Taliban are seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster by US -led troops.
Three Georgian military personnel wounded: Three Georgian military personnel serving with the Nato-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan were lightly wounded when their vehicle was attacked near an airbase north of the capital Kabul, officials said. None of their injuries was considered life-threatening, Resolute Support spokesman Capt. Tom Gresback said in an emailed statement.
“During a recent patrol south of Bagram Airfield yesterday afternoon, three Georgian service members suffered minor injuries when a motorcycle-borne IED (improvised explosive device) was detonated next to their patrol,” he said. T
he attack came as Nato prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan to support a new US strategy aimed at breaking the stalemate with the Taliban. Georgia, one of the largest contributing nations to the 13,500-strong Resolute Support mission, has around 870 troops in Afghanistan, behind only Germany, Italy and the United States. In August, a Georgian soldier was killed and six other coalition personnel were wounded in an attack on a convoy in Qarabagh district, the area in which Wednesday’s attack occurred.