Taliban attack Afghan town again
Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints ringing a key provincial capital in southern Afghanistan for the second time in a week, sparking a battle in which 18 insurgents were killed, an official said Wednesday.
The late Tuesday attack came two days after hundreds of militants gathered on the horizons of Lashkar Gah for an apparent large-scale assault on the capital of Helmand province. NATO called in fighter aircraft and 60 militants were reported killed.
The second attempt on the capital of the world’s largest opium producing region would appear to signal the Taliban’s interest in disrupting a major government center.
Large-scale Taliban attacks on major Afghan towns have been rare since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, and the latest push on Lashkar Gah could be a worrying development for NATO and U.S.-led troops. Fighting typically takes place in small villages and rural areas.
Tuesday’s battle killed 18 militants and wounded three police, said provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad.
OTTAWA
Harper announces new economic plan
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new economic plan Wednesday, a day after his Conservative Party’s re-election victory fell short of a Parliament majority amid voter disgruntlement over his slow response to the global financial meltdown.
Harper had shored up his party’s standing in recent days by taking a more forceful stand on the economy – helped by even deeper unhappiness over the opposition Liberals’ push for a new tax on all fossil fuels except gasoline – and he kept to that theme after the ballot.
“The No. 1 job of the prime minister of Canada is to protect this country’s economy, our earnings, our savings and our jobs, during a time of global economic uncertainty,” Harper said. “The mandate we received allows us to continue moving forward.”
His plan calls for reined-in government spending and presenting Parliament with a budget that takes account of the credit crisis by the end of November. He said he would meet with Canada’s provincial leaders as well as his counterparts in the Group of 7 major industrial nations to discuss economic needs.
In his concession speech late Tuesday, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion offered his “full cooperation in these difficult economic times.”
Harper promised to ensure that Canada’s banks are not hurt by government moves in the United States and Europe to buy up stakes in their own banks to shore up balance sheets.
YAZD, Iran
Europeans urge democratic reform
Several former heads of European governments visiting central Iran say that democratic reform is the best way for the Persian country to break out of international isolation.
Their remarks Wednesday on their trip reflect support for their host, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
Many Ahmadinejad opponents hope the moderate Khatami will run against Ahmadinejad in presidential elections next June.
Former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who is on the trip, has urged Iran “to go toward an open society.” Prodi said that when Khatami was president, there was “cooperation” from Iran – an allusion to Tehran’s refusal under Ahmadinejad to halt uranium enrichment, despite three rounds of U.N. sanctions.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Two soldiers killed in clash with Thais
At least two Cambodian soldiers have been killed in fighting with Thai troops in a disputed area on their border.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said that in addition to the two dead, two were wounded in a gunbattle with Thai troops on Wednesday near the Preah Vihear temple.
Maj. Prum Saroeun said about 20 Thai troops were taken prisoner. The claims could not be independently confirmed.
Thai army spokesman Sansern Kaewkumnerd said five Thai soldiers were wounded.
The gunfight escalated a conflict that officials from both sides fear could result in a war between the neighbors.