Heavy Fighting In Afghanistan May Have Netted Taliban Leader

The last 72 hours in Afghanistan have been the most violent and bloody since 2001. The Taliban is suspected of attacking both U.S. and Afghan forces.

(AP/Yahoo)Suspected Taliban rebels ambushed two Afghan army convoys in the country's south, setting off gunbattles that killed 10 militants, an Afghan soldier and a civilian, the Afghan military said Saturday.
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Fighting also erupted between the insurgents and U.S. forces in the south and an American soldier was killed and six others wounded, the U.S. military said.
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The latest bloodletting comes days after a 24-hour storm of violence killed some 120 people across Afghanistan. The fighting was among the heaviest since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, raising fears for the country's future.

Afghan authorities also have announced that they have captured a “Very Important” person. Rumors are that they captured top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, but Afghan officials won't confirm.

(AFP)"But what I can tell you is that with the killing and capturing of those Taliban commanders, the backbone of the enemies of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is broken," said Mohammad Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor Saturday.

"It's not a joke -- those killed or captured were very big and influential commanders," he told AFP.