10 Taliban killed in Afghan clash

KABUL—Fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Omar pledged in a statement released Friday to drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan, as NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 10 of his fighters in the volatile south.
The message from Omar — the authenticity of which couldn’t be immediately confirmed and which was received by The Associated Press in an e-mail from purported Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif — urged the Taliban to “sacrifice” their lives and “never submit or accept defeat.” “I am confident that blood of innocent people and mujahedeen will yield results,” said the statement, timed for the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha. “The enemy will have to quit the region with humiliation and disgrace.” Afghans have a history of “expelling their enemies as no enemy and invader has quit Afghanistan willingly,” the e-mail continued. The message was sent in the Pashto language with an accompanying English translation.—Agencies