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Afghanistan
NATO strike targets key Taliban commander
2007-02-05
NATO-led troops launched a precision strike Sunday, killing a key Taliban commander near a southern Afghan town overrun by militants, a spokesman for the alliance said.

Col. Tom Collins said that the strike near the town of Musa Qala killed a "high level Taliban leader" and was conducted in "full coordination with the government." He did not identify the suspected leader. Musa Qala, the town where a peace deal between village elders and government was in place since last October, was overrun Thursday by Taliban fighters who disarmed local police, ransacked the district center and hoisted their trademark white flag.
Posted by:Fred

#8  Seems like you could do it again at another village. Except this time have UAV's monitoring, call in a batallion sized Blue Team to engage, and then massive air support to Arc Light the retreat.
Posted by: anymouse   2007-02-05 13:59  

#7  I agree anymouse. But it dose'nt seem to be working. It seems everyday we kill one or two. Don't seem to be lessing thier attacks. Don't mean to say don't kill the top. But at this pace, we are going to run out of bullet's or patience before they do. A million dollars to kill a leader they can replace in ten minutes (beacause he was'nt experienced anyway) seems costly. Like to see 50 go with the leaders at a time. Then I would be more impressed.
Posted by: plainslow   2007-02-05 11:31  

#6  plainslow...meaner (read more aggressive) and less experienced on the battlefield generally leads to a shorter life span.
Posted by: anymouse   2007-02-05 10:27  

#5  And here is the CNN version, which includes this choice headline:
NATO names 'killed' Taliban chief

Might I ask what is up with the scare quotes? Is CNN implying that said Taliban chief might have only suffered a flesh wound?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....
Posted by: Free Radical   2007-02-05 09:48  

#4  ...hoisted their trademark white flag.

Gonna be needing that real soon...
Posted by: Howard UK   2007-02-05 08:33  

#3  If we think that killing thier commander's this will end this, we are mistaken. The new ones will be meaner and less experienced at warefare as it is now. Will keep trying new things we have'nt thought of to hurt us. We need to kill as many of the foot soldiers as possible, as well.
Posted by: plainslow   2007-02-05 08:33  

#2  ISAF press release: Senior Musa Qala District Taliban commander killed in air strike

Not named, but it sounds like Mullah Gaffur who led the takeover of Musa Qala. ISAF just missed him one or two days ago.
Posted by: ed   2007-02-05 00:40  

#1  Sounds like our HUMINT is getting better. We seem to have gotten a high number of high value targets over the past 6 months.
Posted by: anymouse   2007-02-05 00:22  

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