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U.S. Says Taliban on the Run, 70 to 100 Killed
EFL/FU:The U.S. military said on Friday it was pursuing remnants of a large Taliban force in the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan after killing 70 to 100 of them in more than a week of fighting. "We believe we have been very successful, we believe we have the enemy on the run," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram air base. "From what we can determine they have withdrawn to some extent. There has been relatively light resistance in the last 24 hours, but weâre not going to stop, weâre going to press on." Keep after them, boys. The Taliban force in Zabul province, which numbered up to 1,000 men, was the largest concentration of forces from the Islamic militia since it was ousted from power in late 2001, and the battle, which began on August 25, the biggest in at least 18 months. Zabulâs intelligence chief Khalil Hotak said the corpses of 124 Taliban fighters, including two Arabs, had been found in and around the mountain caves. Davis put the figure slightly lower. "We can confirm coalition and Afghan militia forces have killed somewhere in the range of between 70 and 100 enemy personnel," Davis said. "That is probably a conservative estimate." "Weâre still putting the pieces together, literally." The commander of Taliban forces in Zabul said only seven of his men had been killed and 10 to 20 wounded, dismissing the U.S. figure as propaganda. "Lies, all lies." "If their claim is true, why donât they show the bodies," Mullah Abdul Razzaq Nafees told Reuters by satellite phone. Cuz thatâs a islamic thing. Davis said Operation Mountain Viper would continue against forces he described as "primarily Afghan, primarily Taliban."
No Tora Bora this time. In the past, Taliban forces have often frustrated their U.S. pursuers by slipping away into the rugged mountains of southeastern Afghanistan, or over the border into Pakistan. On this occasion, government officials from neighboring provinces say they have sent forces to cut off Taliban escape routes. Goody. Posted by: Steve 2003-09-05 |
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