Another 50 Taliban Slaughtered In Combined Assault
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan- A six-hour battle in southern Afghanistan left over 50 Taliban fighters killed or wounded, and U.S.-led coalition forces raided a compound housing al-Qaida facilitators in the Northeast, killing several terrorists on Sunday, a coalition statement said.
In the south, NATO-led troops and Afghan army soldiers launched an attack in Baluch village in Uruzgan province during a gathering of local Taliban on Sunday, said Juma Gul Himat, the provincial police chief.
“More than 50 enemies were killed or wounded” and 13 others detained during the joint operation, a statement from Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said.
Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said that “several dozen militants were killed” in the clash.
“This was a well-led and well-coordinated engagement, with the Afghan National Army and ISAF working in conjunction with each other,” Anthony said.
Two policemen and an Afghan soldier were also wounded, Jumat said.
It was impossible to immediately verify the death counts.
The clash follows a large-scale engagement in neighboring Helmand province, where some 80 militants were killed during a weekend operation conducted by U.S. Special Forces.
In Helmand’s capital of Lashkar Gah, meanwhile, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a taxi stand Monday, killing three civilians and wounding five other people, including a policeman, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.
The bomber, who appears to have been a teenager, was also killed in the blast. Andiwal said the target of the attack was a nearby police patrol.
Violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. More than 5,300 people have died this year due to insurgency related violence, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.
In the country’s east, U.S.-led coalition forces raided a compound suspected of housing al-Qaida facilitators, killing several militants on Sunday, a coalition statement said.
The troops fired at the terrorists as they fled the compound in Asadabad district, in Kunar province, the statement said.
“Coalition forces engaged the militants outside the compound area with small-arms fire and accurate conventional munitions as well as engaging the hostile militants inside the compound with small-arms,” the statement said. “Several armed militants were killed during the engagements.”
Five suspected militants were also detained during the operation.
(AP)
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I wonder if Karzai is still bitching about air strikes. He sure didn’t bitch when we were smashing the Taliban in 2001.
What does he think about 80 irhabis being sent to their false god? Or the 50 that joing them?
There should be more Muslims like Karzai. But until there is we should be ruthless in our prosecution of this war.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:49 amKarzai going on 60 min is not going to endear him the men spilling their blood…It plays right into the hands of the Taliban…Karzai is pissing me off..dumbass
October 29th, 2007 at 10:50 pmHeadline is an overstatement; “killed AND wounded” is not “slaughtered”. Might be 50% or less dead.
Depending on what happens with enemy wounded, though, it can take more out of their resources than a straight kill, considering numbers needed to tend them.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:15 pm