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03-29-2006, 06:17 PM
Afghanistan Fighting Deadliest in Months
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 2:47 PM EST
The Associated Press
By RAHIM FAIEZ
Listen to Audio
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban rebels launched a large-scale attack on a coalition military base Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, killing an American and a Canadian soldier but losing 32 of their own in a fierce American-led retaliation.
The fighting was the deadliest in months and reflected a growing intensity of militant attacks after the Taliban warned of a renewed offensive this year, more than four years after the hard-line militia was ousted by U.S.-led airstrikes. More than 3,000 British troops are readying to take control of the volatile area.
"Over the last five or six weeks there have been various proven attacks mainly at night by the Taliban on that base, but I think it is fair to say this is the largest we have seen thus far," British spokesman Col. Chris Vernon told reporters in Kandahar.
The battle was sparked late Tuesday when Taliban insurgents ambushed an Afghan supply convoy as it returned to the remote forward operating base, killing eight Afghan soldiers, Vernon said.
U.S. and British warplanes and helicopters were called in to provide close air support and a Canadian quick reaction force was sent from Kandahar to the base, where a small contingent of American and Canadian soldiers are based alongside Afghan troops in the Sangin district of the southern Helmand province.
Early Wednesday, the base came under a "significant Taliban attack," during which the Canadian and American soldiers were killed, Vernon said.
At least five coalition forces were wounded, including three Canadians and an American soldier, officials said. At least 12 Taliban militants also were killed.
Coalition aircraft and artillery fire were used to repel the Taliban forces, which fled into the desert wilderness. At least 20 militants were killed during the chase and two compounds at a Taliban base were destroyed, the U.S. military said.
"The capturing of these two compounds with boots on the ground produced significant intelligence and allows us to continue to put pressure on the enemy," U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata said.
Large caches of weapons, bombs and ammunition were discovered at the Taliban compound. All were blown up, "causing multiple secondary explosions and destroying the compound and all enemy military equipment inside," the U.S. military said.
The U.S. military did not release the name of the slain American soldier, but the Canadian killed was identified as Pte. Robert Costall of the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
In other violence, suspected Taliban rebels attacked a police checkpoint in Kandahar late Tuesday, killing two officers and wounding four, police commander Abdul Nazik said, adding that insurgents had tried to occupy the police post but were forced to flee.
Another suspected Taliban militant was killed in a separate incident in southern Afghanistan's Zabul province when a bomb he was planting on a roadside exploded prematurely, police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhail said.
It was not clear if Wednesday's violence was linked to the drug trade. Helmand is Afghanistan's main opium poppy-growing region and fears of widespread violence have risen since an aggressive poppy eradication campaign started in recent weeks.
Helmand's rugged mountains also are popular hiding places for Taliban rebels, many of whom are believed to slip back and forth across the province's largely unguarded border with Pakistan.
The attack on the base came a day after a roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers on a road in the province, and four private security workers — a Namibian and three Afghans — were killed elsewhere in the south in attacks blamed on Taliban rebels.
Police said they also foil an attempted suicide attack in Kandahar, pursuing two suspected bombers who eventually blew themselves up but caused no other casualties.
Well, another war down the shitter. We have to remember to finish what we started...
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 2:47 PM EST
The Associated Press
By RAHIM FAIEZ
Listen to Audio
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban rebels launched a large-scale attack on a coalition military base Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, killing an American and a Canadian soldier but losing 32 of their own in a fierce American-led retaliation.
The fighting was the deadliest in months and reflected a growing intensity of militant attacks after the Taliban warned of a renewed offensive this year, more than four years after the hard-line militia was ousted by U.S.-led airstrikes. More than 3,000 British troops are readying to take control of the volatile area.
"Over the last five or six weeks there have been various proven attacks mainly at night by the Taliban on that base, but I think it is fair to say this is the largest we have seen thus far," British spokesman Col. Chris Vernon told reporters in Kandahar.
The battle was sparked late Tuesday when Taliban insurgents ambushed an Afghan supply convoy as it returned to the remote forward operating base, killing eight Afghan soldiers, Vernon said.
U.S. and British warplanes and helicopters were called in to provide close air support and a Canadian quick reaction force was sent from Kandahar to the base, where a small contingent of American and Canadian soldiers are based alongside Afghan troops in the Sangin district of the southern Helmand province.
Early Wednesday, the base came under a "significant Taliban attack," during which the Canadian and American soldiers were killed, Vernon said.
At least five coalition forces were wounded, including three Canadians and an American soldier, officials said. At least 12 Taliban militants also were killed.
Coalition aircraft and artillery fire were used to repel the Taliban forces, which fled into the desert wilderness. At least 20 militants were killed during the chase and two compounds at a Taliban base were destroyed, the U.S. military said.
"The capturing of these two compounds with boots on the ground produced significant intelligence and allows us to continue to put pressure on the enemy," U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata said.
Large caches of weapons, bombs and ammunition were discovered at the Taliban compound. All were blown up, "causing multiple secondary explosions and destroying the compound and all enemy military equipment inside," the U.S. military said.
The U.S. military did not release the name of the slain American soldier, but the Canadian killed was identified as Pte. Robert Costall of the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
In other violence, suspected Taliban rebels attacked a police checkpoint in Kandahar late Tuesday, killing two officers and wounding four, police commander Abdul Nazik said, adding that insurgents had tried to occupy the police post but were forced to flee.
Another suspected Taliban militant was killed in a separate incident in southern Afghanistan's Zabul province when a bomb he was planting on a roadside exploded prematurely, police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhail said.
It was not clear if Wednesday's violence was linked to the drug trade. Helmand is Afghanistan's main opium poppy-growing region and fears of widespread violence have risen since an aggressive poppy eradication campaign started in recent weeks.
Helmand's rugged mountains also are popular hiding places for Taliban rebels, many of whom are believed to slip back and forth across the province's largely unguarded border with Pakistan.
The attack on the base came a day after a roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers on a road in the province, and four private security workers — a Namibian and three Afghans — were killed elsewhere in the south in attacks blamed on Taliban rebels.
Police said they also foil an attempted suicide attack in Kandahar, pursuing two suspected bombers who eventually blew themselves up but caused no other casualties.
Well, another war down the shitter. We have to remember to finish what we started...