Killings of 15 Afghans to Be Probed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan forces killed at least 15 people they identified as Taliban rebels Wednesday near the border with Pakistan, but authorities launched an investigation after area residents said the dead were tribesmen who wanted to attend a religious festival.

The bodies were found near the town of Spin Buldak in Kandahar province, where about 2,000 members of the Noorzai tribe protested the slayings and demanded that action be taken against the Afghan forces responsible.

Kandahar Gov. Haji Asadullah Khalid said he did not know whether the victims were Taliban rebels, but he sent a team to investigate.

Earlier, frontier security commander Abdul Razzak said his forces had fought a two-hour gun battle late Tuesday against a group of suspected Taliban rebels.

He said the dead included a mid-level Taliban commander, Mullah Shien, who for months had allegedly led several cross-border raids from secret bases on the Pakistani side of the frontier.

But Khalid’s deputy, Naimat Khan Noorzai, a member of the Noorzai tribe, rejected claims that those killed were Taliban fighters. “They were killed in cold blood because of a tribal conflict” allegedly involving Razzak’s tribe, Noorzai said.

Neither Razzak nor other members of his tribe were available to comment on the allegations.

Noorzai said the victims were planning to travel from the capital, Kabul, to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to celebrate Nowruz, an ancient Persian spring festival that marks the new year in Afghanistan. It is a predominantly Shiite Muslim event, but is also celebrated by Sunnis.