KABUL: Afghan and U.S. forces have killed 34 militants, almost half of them in air strikes, and made one of the country's largest drug hauls during an operation in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military has said.Almost 15 tonnes of narcotics including opium, heroin and morphine were seized over the course of the operation, which started on Tuesday, along with supplies of poppy seeds and drug refining products, the military said in a statement issued late on Thursday. The operation, which included air strikes that killed 16militants, was aimed at securing the Loy Cherah Bazaar in Marjeh city, a narcotics processing hub and militant stronghold in Helmand province.Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, most of it in the Taliban's southern heartland. U.S.military officials have estimated the opium trade provides between $80 million and $400 million a year to the Taliban.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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