Sunday, July 16, 2006

Another 35 Taliban killed in raids by coalition (INCLUDING CANADIAN FORCES!)


Afghan and US-led coalition troops have killed 35 Taliban fighters in two separate raids in southern Afghanistan. Late on Saturday, troops backed by air strikes attacked two areas close to the Sangin district of Helmand province.
The raids were part of a major offensive launched last month by foreign troops in response to a wave of violence by a resurgent Taliban across the south. Nabi Mullahkhail, Helmand's police chief, said: "Twenty-seven Taliban were killed in one of the attacks in which coalition and Afghan forces took part and eight other Taliban died in another raid."
He said that one of those killed was a local Taliban commander. There were no reports of casualties among coalition or Afghan troops. Another 10 Taliban fighters were killed on Saturday in an early morning air assault in Sangin.
The recent coalition strikes in Afghanistan are part of a joint operation between British, U.S., and Canadian troops.

Finally!

There have been claims that civilians have been killed in the strikes and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has ordered an investigation into reports that civilians were killed in a coalition air attack in the Uruzgan province on Monday. The US military said that there had been no reports of civilian deaths and Major Tom Collins, the coalition spokesman, said that the claims had been fabricated as part of a "propaganda campaign".