5 NATO troops slain in Afghanistan

The troops die in incidents in the south and east, making it the most lethal day for Western troops in a month. Also, militants free an Afghan diplomat held for two years and seven Afghans die in other attacks.

In Nangarhar province, where a squad of gunmen and suicide bombers had attacked a large NATO air base on Saturday, insurgents on Sunday set a dozen NATO fuel tankers ablaze, according to provincial officials. (STR, AFP/Getty Images / November 14, 2010)

Reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and —

The Western military on Sunday suffered its most lethal day in a month in Afghanistan, with five troops killed in the south and east, the NATO force said.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government said an Afghan diplomat kidnapped by insurgents two years ago in Pakistan's tribal areas had been freed a day earlier. A brief statement from the presidential palace credited his release on "persistent efforts" on the part of the Pakistani and Afghan governments but gave no details.

The envoy, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, was released in eastern Afghanistan, across the border from where he had been seized. Insurgents based in Pakistan's tribal areas are able to move back and forth across the frontier with little impediment.

Fighting generally eases as the winter sets in, because manyTaliban and other fighters spend the season in Pakistan, and snow in the high mountain passes makes it difficult to move between the two countries. This year, however, clashes have persisted even as the weather has begun to turn cold.

The Taliban and the main insurgent group active inAfghanistan's east, the Haqqani network, appear determined to show they can fight on in the face of a concerted NATO campaign targeting midlevel field commanders. Hundreds have been killed in targeted strikes over the last several months, military officials have said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization force gave no details about the three fatalities in the east and the two in the south. Large numbers of U.S. forces serve in both regions, particularly the south.

Americans make up two-thirds of the 150,000 Western troops in Afghanistan, suffering a proportionate number of casualties. Before Sunday's deaths, American fatalities made up 438 of the 639 NATO forces killed this year, according to the website icasualties.org.

The 2010 total is already the highest yearly toll of the war, which is in its 10th year. Sunday's was the highest single-day fatality total since Oct. 14, when eight troops were killed.

Afghan civilians have been dying in record numbers as well. Three civilians were killed in explosions Sunday in southern Afghanistan that also killed three Afghan policemen.

The NATO force also said an Afghan child in Kandahar province was accidentally killed Sunday, apparently by Western artillery fire. Another child was injured in the incident, which occurred after a Western patrol came under attack in volatile Zhari district, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

Though attention has been focused on a major American offensive on the outskirts of Kandahar city, the hub of the south, the east also has seen persistent insurgent attacks.

In Nangarhar province, where a squad of gunmen and suicide bombers had attacked a large NATO air base Saturday, insurgents on Sunday set a dozen NATO fuel tankers ablaze, provincial officials said.

laura.king@latimes.com

Times staff writer King reported from Dubai and special correspondent Yaqoubi from Kabul.

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

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Abducted Afghan diplomat freed after two years

Reuters

KABUL | Sun Nov 14, 2010 3:36am EST

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Nov 14 (Reuters) - A senior Afghan diplomat in Pakistan, kidnapped two years ago by gunmen, has been freed, the Afghan government said on Sunday.

Abdul Khaliq Farahi, the Afghan consul general in Pakistan, was seized after gunmen ambushed his car and killed his driver in September 2008 in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

"I can confirm that he was freed yesterday and he is in Afghanistan," Siyamak Herawi, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said.

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 (Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin and additional reporting by Kamran Haider; Editing by Ron Popeski) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here) (sayed.salahuddin@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 285)) If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)