Karzai offers Taliban a role in govt

London, Oct. 12: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered Taliban leaders the possibility of positions in his government if they struck a peace deal to end the fighting, media reported on Sunday.

The offer was made through his brother Qayoun at a secret meeting in Saudi Arabia of which Britain was aware.

Britain was in favour of such a deal and the Americans are thought to be coming round to the idea as the Afghan war is proving to be a costly affair.

But the Americans have made it clear that while they may let talks with the Taliban, no negotiation with Al Qaeda is possible.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the allies would insist that the Taliban would have to split with Al Qaeda and provide information on international terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan as the price of a deal.

The United Kingdom government has said little about the initiative in public but British military commanders and diplomats are known to favour talking to the Taliban as a way of ending the war.

British intelligence sources now believe the Taliban’s own ranks may be ready for a grand deal in which Taliban leaders will be allowed to return to their homes and take positions of power. —PTI

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Afghan town attack foiled, 60 rebels die

BY NASRAT SHOAIB

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Oct. 12: About 100 militants were killed in Afghanistan’s Helm-and province, half in air strikes that thwarted a major attack on a key town overnight, Afghan and British forces said on Sunday.

Between 50 and 60 militants were killed in air strikes as they tried to enter the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah from three directions.

The attempt was "virtually unprecedented" in the area in the scale of the attacking force and their degree of coordination, said lieutenant colonel Woody Page, a spokesman for the British military, which has a base in Lashkar Gah.

Around 40 more were killed in a three-day operation in the nearby Nad Ali district that wound up on Saturday, Afghan and British forces said. It was impossible to independently verify the tolls from the battles in Helmand. —AFP