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17 More Taliban Snuffed
U.S.-led forces backed by warplanes killed 17 militants in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, the American military confirmed Friday, the bloodiest battle with Taliban-led insurgents in almost a year. Afghan officials reported the clash Thursday, saying American and Afghan troops attacked insurgents in the Miana Shien district of Kandahar province, some 150 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul. Three U.S. Marines were slightly wounded in the fighting, which killed 17 combatants, Master Sgt. Cindy Beam, an American military spokeswoman, said in an e-mail statement. Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government, said Thursday that 13 suspected Taliban were killed and eight were arrested in the fighting, which began late Wednesday and ended Thursday afternoon. Pashtun said some 300 Afghan soldiers and a smaller number of Americans had skirmished repeatedly with gunmen in the mountains of an area called Purlaiz. Beam confirmed the joint operation and that U.S. warplanes joined the fray, but she gave no other details. The clash appeared to be the most deadly since fierce fighting in late August and early September in the mountains of neighboring Zabul province, during which more than 100 Taliban are believed to have died. One American special operations soldier also was killed. | I guess the dreaded Taliban Spring Offensive is winding down. |
Posted by: Steve 2004-06-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=34667 |
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