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U.S.-led offensive against Taliban easing
U.S.-led coalition forces detained four suspected al-Qaida operatives in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, while a major operation to crush Taliban fighters in the south moved to a close, officials said. The al-Qaida suspects, accused of planning attacks on coalition and Afghan forces, were nabbed near Sal Kalay, a village in Khost province, along with assault rifles and a briefcase containing "extremist-related documents," a coalition statement said. The coalition did not give the suspects' names, nationalities or indicate their seniority within the terror group.The commander of the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan said a massive U.S.-led offensive that has killed more than 600 suspected Taliban in the south will end when NATO takes over command from the coalition in the volatile region on Monday. ??? The 8,000-strong NATO force of mostly British, Canadian and Dutch troops formally takes over in the south from the U.S.-led coalition Monday. Meanwhile, officials said U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan police killed or wounded 18 suspected Taliban militants in fighting that also left two policemen dead. Fourteen militants were killed or injured by airstrikes and artillery in Garmser district of the southern Helmand province on Thursday, said provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhel. ... Operation Mountain Thrust will wrap up as NATO steps in, though it will "keep up the tempo" of operations against the insurgents, said British Lt. Gen. David Richards, commander of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Since June 10, more than 10,000 Afghan and coalition forces have fanned out across the south in response to an upsurge in Taliban attacks. The coalition said it has killed 600 insurgents, while at least 19 coalition troops have died during the same period, according to an Associated Press count of coalition figures. Richards said he did not expect the coalition whose primary goal was to fight global Islamic militants like al-Qaida that are active in eastern Afghanistan to operate for much longer in the south, where the insurgency is led by the Taliban. NATO brings a new strategy for dealing with the Taliban rebellion, establishing bases rather than adopting the coalition tactic of chasing down militants. It wants to bolster the weak government of President Hamid Karzai and win the support of local people by promoting much-needed development. Richards said he hoped that within three to six months there would be signs of progress, creating secure zones in which aid workers could operate in a region mired in the drug trade and poverty. Reconstruction would help people see "the fighting is worth something," Richards told a news conference in Kabul. "I hope people who now are often being intimidated into supporting the Taliban" would have the extra resolve to reject them. He said NATO forces would be "really, really careful" to avoid civilian losses, but would be as tough in defending themselves as the coalition had been. Civilian deaths during coalition military action often involving air power and heavy weaponry has complicated the NATO force's task of winning over a skeptical Pashtun tribal populace. Posted by: ed 2006-07-29 |
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