KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants overran a district in southern Afghanistan and are pushing for control of another key area, sparking fierce clashes with NATO and Afghan forces that have left more than 100 people dead over three days, officials said Tuesday.

Afghan police officers stop a vehicle for checking on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, June 18, 2007. Police said they have detained a suspect in connection with Sunday's deadly bus bombing that killed at least 35 people, most of them police trainers. [AP]

 

Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched raids on police posts near the strategic town of Chora in Uruzgan province Saturday, forcing NATO, backed by fighter jets, to respond. Fighting was continuing Tuesday, and some officials reported there have been dozens of civilian casualties.

Also late Monday, Taliban occupied Miya Nishin district in neighboring Kandahar province, said provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai. Authorities were planning an operation to retake the remote area, he said.

The insurgent push in the south appears to be the biggest Taliban offensive of the year and marks a change in tactics.

Until now, militants have relied largely on suicide and roadside bombings this year as NATO forces have escalated their operations to root them out. Violence has swelled, claiming about 2,400 lives during 2007, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western military and Afghan officials.

Maj. Gen. Jouke Eikelboom, director of operations with the Dutch military, said Monday that Karzai and the Uruzgan governor sought military support after the attack on the police posts.

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