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Coalition 'retakes Taleban towns'
US-led and Afghan forces say they have retaken two Taleban-held towns in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. Taleban fighters had seized the areas of Garmser and Naway-i-Barakazayi earlier in the week. Two Afghan soldiers were slightly hurt in the operation, the US-led coalition said. There have also been reports that many locals have fled the area. General Rahmatullah Roufi, an Afghan army commander, told the Associated Press that hundreds of troops had battled Taleban fighters before entering Garmser on Tuesday. "Our troops launched an attack on Garmser and thank God we captured it," he said. The operation in Garmser followed a similar operation to retake the town of Naway-i-Barakazayi. US military spokesman Lt Col Paul Fitzpatrick said Afghan and coalition forces "skirmished" with Taleban fighters outside Garmser but met no resistance once inside. "The Taleban appears to be bullying their way around some of the smaller towns in remote areas, but they have no capability to lay claim to any piece of ground," he said. The two towns are both a few miles west of Lashkar Gah, where the British military operation centre is based. The US-led coalition has said a massive military operation has seriously disrupted Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan, particularly in the districts of Sangin, Musa Qala and Baghran in Helmand province. "Afghan and coalition forces in the last week have killed numerous lower and mid-level commanders that the senior Taleban leadership rely on to intimidate villages, threaten elders and lead small bands of extremists to conduct attacks on Afghan and coalition forces," a statement on Tuesday said. The statement also confirmed that a coalition soldier had died on Monday in neighbouring Uruzgan province. The nationality of the dead soldier has not yet been released. The troops came under fire after destroying a truck that militants were loading in Tarin Kowt district. Eleven other soldiers were wounded, the coalition said. Posted by: Steve 2006-07-19 |
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