Afghanistan gunbattle kills 80 militants

A U.S. chinook helicopter flies past a mountainous area of Afghanistan's Paktika province on July 1.Paktika governor: 80 militants are killed in joint operations NATO confirms 50 insurgents were killed Separately, security handover ceremonies take place in Kabul and Panjshir province

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least 80 militants were killed in a series of operations involving Afghan and NATO forces during a day-long firefight last week in the country's restive southeast, Paktika provincial governor Mukhlas Afghan said Sunday.

NATO said it could only confirm 50 insurgents were killed in the fight.

The operation, which began Wednesday and spanned the night into Thursday, was fought in an "known Haqqani network" area.

The Haqqani network is an insurgent group loosely affiliated with the Taliban and is believed to be based in Pakistan's lawless frontier territories.

The raid included Afghan special forces and engaged "multiple groups of insurgents" who were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Friday.

Multiple insurgent groups were holed up in areas that included caves and fortified bunker positions, ISAF said.

Sunday's announcement coincides with formal ceremonies marking the handover of security to Afghan forces in parts of Kabul and Panjshir province.

They are the fifth and sixth areas to be transferred to national forces.

Quoting : CNN.com

Aid ban in starving Somalia still in place, militants say

Terrorists behind Somalia famine?NEW: Al-Shabaab says there's no famine in SomaliaNEW: Spokesman accuses the groups of having a political agenda in declaring a famine Islamist militants say a 2009 ban on various groups remains in placeSomalia is facing a famine that puts half of its population in dire need, U.N. says

(CNN) -- Islamist militants in Somalia have reversed a pledge to allow foreign aid agencies to operate in famine-struck regions in the nation.

''The lift of ban on aid agencies doesn't include the agencies that we banned earlier in areas we control because those agencies don't do relief work, they are spies and work on political agendas'," Al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Raage said Thursday on the militants' radio station, Al Furqaan.

His announcement reverses his pledge this month that militants would allow aid groups to operate in areas under their control.

Al-Shabaab originally banned foreign aid organizations from providing aid in southern Somalia in 2009, describing them as Western spies and Christian crusaders.

The ban included the United Nations Development Programme, World Food Programme and CARE International. The World Food Programme has said that a new dialogue -- but not negotiations -- is under way with the group.

Raage accused the groups of having a political agenda in declaring a famine in Somalia.

''The U.N. said that there is famine in Somalia. That is not true. It is a lie and they are politicizing the issue," he said. "We only have drought in Somalia, not famine."

Aid groups issued an urgent appeal this week for international help, saying Somalia faces a famine that has left half of the population in dire need.

Somalia is battling its worst drought in 60 years, sending tens of thousands walking for days into both Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food and water.

"Nearly 3.7 million people are now in crisis," U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Aid agencies estimate that 10 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda and Somalia are at risk of famine.

Conflict in Somalia is adding to the problem as government forces battle militants in the capital of Mogadishu. The Horn of Africa nation has not had an effective government for two decades.

Journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report.

Quoting : CNN.com