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Taliban Force Under Fire in Afghan Mountains
Ahah! It's the rest of the story...Warplanes of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan pounded Taliban positions in remote central mountains Monday while government troops captured dozens of suspected rebels. More than 450 Afghan government troops and dozens of U.S. soldiers backed by aircraft were chasing up to 600 Taliban guerrillas in the Dai Chopan region of the restive Zabul province, Dai Chopan police chief Juman Khan told Reuters.
More likely bombs from the aircraft. Khan said about 40 suspects had been detained, although there might be innocent villagers among them. There had been no contact with the Taliban fighters since Saturday, when five government soldiers were killed in an ambush by a group of guerrillas who lost four men in an ensuing skirmish. Khan described the Taliban force scattered over rugged terrain as one of the biggest concentrations since the fundamentalist Muslim group was overthrown in a U.S.-led campaign in late 2001. He said it included fighters blamed for attacks in Zabul and neighboring Uruzgan province Friday and Saturday. Just like I thought, they had a couple of successful attacks on police stations, got overconfident, massed their forces, and got caught. Among them was thought to be Mullah Dadullah, one of the Talibanâs top commanders accused of ordering the execution of a foreign Red Cross worker this year, he said. Dad? The operation in Dai Chopan follows a surge in violence in the past two weeks across Afghanistan in which more than 100 people have been killed, many in attacks blamed on a resurgent Taliban. Afghan authorities say the Taliban have been operating in increasingly large groups in recent weeks to attack government troops, officials and aid workers, mostly in the south and southeast. The larger the group, the better the target. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-25 |
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