Afghan-NATO attack said to kill 200 rebels; 4 Canadians also die
By NOOR KHAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9/4/2006
PASHMUL, Afghanistan - Warplanes and artillery pounded Taliban fighters hiding in orchards Sunday during a major Afghan-NATO offensive that the alliance said killed more than 200 militants in its first two days. Four Canadian soldiers also were killed.
If the estimate is confirmed, the battle would be one of the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago. Reporters could not reach all of the combat zone because officials barred traffic from all but one road in this part of southern Kandahar province.
An Associated Press reporter who traveled to Pashmul saw warplanes drop five bombs within 20 minutes on orchards where militants were believed hiding.
Explosions echoed across grape and pomegranate fields, and clouds of dust rose amid the greenery and dried-mud houses of the Panjwayi district, about 12 miles from Kandahar city.
Operation Medusa was launched Saturday to flush out Taliban fighters from Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari district. NATO's spokesman, Maj. Scott Lundy, said alliance and Afghan troops had gained ground and disrupted the militants' command system so guerrillas were moving in confusion.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Taliban casualties were high, but he could not confirm the NATO report of more than 200 dead.
A NATO statement said its figure was derived from "surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby."
About 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested by Afghan police, NATO said, and another 180 fled the area.
The alliance said it had no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy fire. But a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Gen. Zahir Azimi, said earlier that an undetermined number of civilians were killed.
Jason Husiak, a spokesman at the Canadian Department of National Defense, said four Canadian soldiers died in Sunday's fighting and others were wounded.
NATO said seven soldiers in its International Security Assistance Force were wounded, one seriously. The other six were expected to return to duty within a few days, it said.
There was no word on casualties among Afghan troops.
Saturday, a reconnaissance plane supporting Operation Medusa crashed, killing all 14 British servicemen on board. NATO said the crash was not caused by hostile fire, saying the plane reported a technical problem before it went down. Investigators examined the wreckage Sunday.
More than 1,800 people, most of them militants, have died in violence the past four months, according to figures from NATO, the U.S. military and Afghan officials.
Insecure conditions have made it increasingly difficult for civilians, aid workers and journalists to travel outside the main cities in the south.
Link
By NOOR KHAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9/4/2006
PASHMUL, Afghanistan - Warplanes and artillery pounded Taliban fighters hiding in orchards Sunday during a major Afghan-NATO offensive that the alliance said killed more than 200 militants in its first two days. Four Canadian soldiers also were killed.
If the estimate is confirmed, the battle would be one of the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago. Reporters could not reach all of the combat zone because officials barred traffic from all but one road in this part of southern Kandahar province.
An Associated Press reporter who traveled to Pashmul saw warplanes drop five bombs within 20 minutes on orchards where militants were believed hiding.
Explosions echoed across grape and pomegranate fields, and clouds of dust rose amid the greenery and dried-mud houses of the Panjwayi district, about 12 miles from Kandahar city.
Operation Medusa was launched Saturday to flush out Taliban fighters from Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari district. NATO's spokesman, Maj. Scott Lundy, said alliance and Afghan troops had gained ground and disrupted the militants' command system so guerrillas were moving in confusion.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Taliban casualties were high, but he could not confirm the NATO report of more than 200 dead.
A NATO statement said its figure was derived from "surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby."
About 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested by Afghan police, NATO said, and another 180 fled the area.
The alliance said it had no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy fire. But a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Gen. Zahir Azimi, said earlier that an undetermined number of civilians were killed.
Jason Husiak, a spokesman at the Canadian Department of National Defense, said four Canadian soldiers died in Sunday's fighting and others were wounded.
NATO said seven soldiers in its International Security Assistance Force were wounded, one seriously. The other six were expected to return to duty within a few days, it said.
There was no word on casualties among Afghan troops.
Saturday, a reconnaissance plane supporting Operation Medusa crashed, killing all 14 British servicemen on board. NATO said the crash was not caused by hostile fire, saying the plane reported a technical problem before it went down. Investigators examined the wreckage Sunday.
More than 1,800 people, most of them militants, have died in violence the past four months, according to figures from NATO, the U.S. military and Afghan officials.
Insecure conditions have made it increasingly difficult for civilians, aid workers and journalists to travel outside the main cities in the south.
Link
Comment