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Twenty-five foreign fighters were killed and wounded by Afghan security forces after they crossed the border from Pakistan, a government official said, the first sign of retaliatory attacks in Afghanistan after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed.
Bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was killed by U.S. forces in a dramatic raid north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday, sparking fears of revenge by Islamist militants.
Jamaluddin Badr, governor of northeastern Nuristan province, said the 25 foreign fighters killed and wounded overnight included Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis. He said the operation was launched to guard against attacks after bin Laden's death.
"We are aware of the situation here now that al Qaeda and other elements will try to infiltrate into Afghanistan. We have launched an operation to control border infiltration," Badr told Reuters.
Tuesday's operation was in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan, very close to the border with Pakistan, Badr said.
Taliban, al Qaeda and other Islamist militants have long operated out of safe havens and training camps in Pakistan's largely lawless northwest Pashtun tribal regions.
Bin Laden was sheltered by the Afghan Taliban before the September 11 attacks and managed to escape U.S. troops and Afghan militia during an assault in Afghanistan's mountainous Tora Bora region before slipping across the border into Pakistan.
Military commanders, political leaders and analysts have warned that the immediate effect of bin Laden's killing for Afghanistan would likely be a spike in violence as Islamist militants seek to strike back.
"I don't think the death of bin Laden will directly impact the fighting capabilities of any of the parties engaged in the war in Afghanistan," Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a blog
Bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was killed by U.S. forces in a dramatic raid north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday, sparking fears of revenge by Islamist militants.
Jamaluddin Badr, governor of northeastern Nuristan province, said the 25 foreign fighters killed and wounded overnight included Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis. He said the operation was launched to guard against attacks after bin Laden's death.
"We are aware of the situation here now that al Qaeda and other elements will try to infiltrate into Afghanistan. We have launched an operation to control border infiltration," Badr told Reuters.
Tuesday's operation was in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan, very close to the border with Pakistan, Badr said.
Taliban, al Qaeda and other Islamist militants have long operated out of safe havens and training camps in Pakistan's largely lawless northwest Pashtun tribal regions.
Bin Laden was sheltered by the Afghan Taliban before the September 11 attacks and managed to escape U.S. troops and Afghan militia during an assault in Afghanistan's mountainous Tora Bora region before slipping across the border into Pakistan.
Military commanders, political leaders and analysts have warned that the immediate effect of bin Laden's killing for Afghanistan would likely be a spike in violence as Islamist militants seek to strike back.
"I don't think the death of bin Laden will directly impact the fighting capabilities of any of the parties engaged in the war in Afghanistan," Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a blog
