 [Quqnoos] A NATO-led airstrike has reportedly killed more than 50 Taliban militants in the Afghan western province of Farah on Saturday. The aerial assault on Taliban compounds erupted after seven Afghan and two American soliders were killed in a tough gun-battle in the Bala Buluk district of the province.
Provincial officials confirm that three civilians, including two teenage girls, were also killed and two women were wounded in a Taliban missile strike during the fighting.
| Usually the Taliban claim a great many more human shields.. plus the usual fluffy baby ducks, kittens and puppies. |
A spokesman for an Afghan Army Corp in western Afghanistan, Major Abdul Basir Ghori, said that 12 other Afghan soldiers have been injured in the pre-airstrike battle.
| May they heal quickly and well, and soon return to their calling. |
The air raid to pound Taliban centres was asked after the Taliban insurgents attacked a supplying convoy of the World Food Programme (WFP) that was ushered by the Afghan Army.
| Clearly the Afghan Army doesn't operate with the same rules of engagement as the international forces. |
Bala Buluk district is a key Taliban stronghold in the Afghan west.
| Was, rather than is, perhaps. We shall see. |
There has been no immediate report about any possible civilian casualties in the bombing.
A similar US air strike in the Bala Buluk caused the death of at least 100 Afghan civilians this year in May, the deadliest incident since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001.
| Even the littlist baby goat was counted for the purpose of US blood money. |
The Taliban have not made an immediate comment over the claims.
| "What, us use human shields? Perish the thought! |
Moreover, two other US soldiers were killed when their patrol struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in eastern Afghanistan, US military says.
"We grieve with the family and loved ones of the brave ISAF service-members," said Brig Gen Eric Tremblaym, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF). "ISAF's efforts are dangerous and challenging but we are committed to helping build a safer and better Afghanistan and we will succeed in this endeavour," an ISAF statement qouted Gen Tremblay as saying.
The casualties occurred in a wave of violence around the country as Taliban have intensified their attacks to a record level this year.
| Al Qaeda in Iraq already lost Iraq. How would it look to the Ummah, were the Taliban, who once lorded over the entirety of Afghanistan, to lose in Afghanistan as insurgents, too? |
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