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Afghan militant toll nears 200
 A very important Taliban commander was captured during two days of fierce fighting in southern Afghanistan that has left nearly 200 rebels dead, officials said Friday. The identity of the man caught in Kandahar province could not be released on security grounds, provincial governor Assadullah Khalid said, after reports he was Mullah Dadullah, credited as one of the masterminds of the Taliban insurgency launched nearly five years ago.
The man was badly wounded in a battle in Kandahars Panjwayi fought by Taliban rebels who had come from across Afghanistan, Khalid told reporters. Around 100 were killed, he said, upping a previous figure of 18.
| If they came from across Afghanistan, that implies there aren't that many of them in one place. That bit has the odor of rare, aged flounder to it. I'd guess rather that they came swarming across the Pak border, waving AK's and hollering "Allahu Akbar"! |
The US-led coalition helping to fight Taliban rebels announced meanwhile that 60 enemy were killed in a separate battle on Wednesday in neighbouring Helmand province. Afghan officials had said about 40 were killed. The new tolls took past 190 the number of insurgents killed in two days of clashes between security forces and Taliban rebels in some of the heaviest fighting since the regime was toppled in 2001 by a US-led invasion. More than 25 Afghan security forces and civilians were also killed in the violence, which included two suicide blasts Thursday that counted a US citizen and an Afghan national among their victims.
Yesterday the "experts" were going on about how precarious the situation in Afghanistan's become due to the Taliban "resurgence." Mullah Dadullah's been replaced by Haqqani, the loser at Shah-i-Kot, so Karzai is in large trouble and Mullah Omar will be warming the Seat of All Power by Christmas.
The figures just don't show it. The number of attacks are up, reflecting the mere availability of cannon fodder and supplies, not a resurgence. The corpse counts say that the Talibs are still fielding warriors, and 1:8 ratios say they aren't even very good ones. Warriors, as I've mentioned a time or two, will lose to disciplined, well-led soldiers 100.00 percent of the time. Individual warriors will beat the crap out of individual soldiers in bar fights most of the time, but discipline and teamwork counter personal bravery and toughness. They've been doing that since the invention of the hoplite, at least. The NATO troops, particularly the Dutchies, aren't Americans, but they're still better than anything the Taliban can field. And the Afghan troops are definitely coming up to snuff; the turbans are directing their attacks against the police, not the army. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, when Satan Claus brings Mullah Omar his presents this year it'll be in Quetta. |
Posted by: Fred 2006-05-20 |
