Afghan, NATO troops kill nine rebels: Police

KANDAHAR, Dec 30 (Agencies): At least nine Taliban-linked militants were killed in clashes with Afghan and international forces in troubled southern Afghanistan, a police commander said on Tuesday.

The fighting erupted in the Nawa district of Helmand province after dozens of rebels attacked Afghan security forces manning a checkpoint, provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad told reporters.

Afghan reinforcements backed by NATO-led troops rushed to the scene and killed nine rebel attackers, Sherzad said.

"Nine Taliban were killed and their bodies were left in the area.

We had no casualties," he added.

Helmand province, which borders Pakistan, sees much of the violence in the bloody insurgency being waged by remnants of the Taliban regime, which was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Dutch Major General Mart de Kruif, commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan which includes Helmand, called this week for most of the 30,000 extra US troops due next year to be sent to Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, much of it in Helmand.

There are about 70,000 international troops based in Afghanistan to help Kabul defeat an insurgency and rebuild the country after decades of war.

Row in Nepal over sacking of Indian priests at Pashupatinath KATHMANDU, Dec 30 (Agencies): The government's decision to sack South Indian priests from the Pashupatinath Temple in the capital has sparked a row in Nepal, with the main Opposition party accusing the Maoists of hurting "the religious sentiments" of the Hindus in the country.

The Nepali Congess, the second largest party in the country, has raised serious objections on the Maoist-led government's move to remove South Indian Brahmins from capital's famous Pashupatinath Temple, one of the eight holiest Hindu shrines, and appointing local priests in their place.

Nepali Congress (NC) alleged that it was done in a hurry without going through proper process and formalities.

"The way Maoist government replaced the priests serving at the Pashupatinath Temple without fulfilling any formality has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu people of Nepal," said NC chief Laxman Ghimire in the Parliament yesterday.

He said the removal of the priests on the basis of a personal decision of the member seretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust is violation of rules and a blow to the Hindu sentiments in the country, where overwhelming majority of the people are Hindus.

"The decision to sack the priests by changing the centuries-old tradition should have done through the cabinet," he said.

Sujata Koirala, central committed member of NC and daughter of party president Girija Prasad Koirala, said the Maoists' move to sack the priests of the temple has led to negative impact on the mind of the people and it shows that the ruling party is against the age-old tradition and culture of the country.

"The people have become suspicious about their intention after the Maoists' attack on the age old tradition," she said yesterday.

The Maoist government has sacked three South Indian priests including chief Priest Mahabaleshwor Bhatta and appointed Bishnu Dahal as head of the temple.

There has been South Indian Priests since the time of Malla Kings in 1747 AD.

Two other South Indian priests, who are yet to submit their resignation have also been asked to follow suit by the authorities.