60 Killed as Boat Said to Be Carrying Taliban Fighters Sinks - New York Times

60 Killed as Boat Said to Be Carrying Taliban Fighters Sinks - New York Times: "KABUL, Afghanistan, June 2 (AP) — A boat crossing a river in southern Afghanistan sank on Saturday, and at least 60 people were killed, including Taliban militants, the Defense Ministry said.

The boat sank while crossing the Helmand River, which snakes through Helmand Province, the world’s leading opium poppy region and the site of fierce battles over the past several months. The Afghan Army was investigating to see how many Taliban insurgents and how many civilians were on board, the ministry said.

In Ghazni Province, in southeastern Afghanistan, people suspected to be Taliban militants attacked a local police commander’s home, killing five family members and sparking a gun battle with the police that left 10 insurgents dead, an official said.

The commander’s wife, two sons and two nephews were killed in the attack, Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said. People attending a pro-Taliban rally in Pakistan said an audiotape was played there in which a man described as the Taliban’s new top field commander vowed to drive out United States forces and free Afghanistan from “American slavery.” The new commander was identified as Dadullah Mansoor, the brother of Mullah Dadullah, the former field commander who was killed in an American operation last month." Read complete post here.