US and Afghan officials say that more than 100 Taleban fighters have been killed in southern Afghanistan in one of the biggest offensives in two years. Hundreds of Afghan troops backed by US-led coalition forces have taken part in the clashes in Zabul province that started on Tuesday. The Taleban deny having lost any of their men. The government says a number of senior Taleban fighters have been surrounded, Reuters news agency reports. On Tuesday, the pilot of a US spy plane was killed when his aircraft crashed while returning to its base in the United Arab Emirates from Afghanistan. It is not clear whether the crash was connected to the ongoing offensive.
Most of the fighting has taken place in the Daychopan district of Zabul province, near the border with Kandahar. "We have 103 bodies," Afghan interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal is quoted as saying by Reuters. "All of them were armed. Most were killed by coalition helicopter gunships," he said. A British military spokeswoman, Lt Gemma Fullman, said British planes provided close air support but did not drop any munitions, the AFP news agency reports. Afghan police commander Gen Salim Khan said eight Afghan security force members had died. The US military said five US soldiers had been wounded.
Taleban spokesman, Latifullah Hakimi, denied any of the group's fighters had been killed or captured.
| "No, no, we're ok. Must be somebody else." |
| I've lost count of the number of Mullah Dad's we've killed or captured. |
Tuesday's incident follows a wave of violence earlier this week in which at least 38 rebels were killed in clashes with US-led coalition and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan. The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says doubt has been cast on some of the US military's previous claims about insurgent casualty numbers. But our correspondent says barely a day goes by now without serious violence across south and east Afghanistan, raising fears for security in September's planned parliamentary elections.
The US has about 18,000 troops in Afghanistan tackling remnants of the Taleban that was ousted in late 2001.
| Not mentioning the wave of Arab fighters and Paks imported since. |
Additional: Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said captured guerrillas had revealed that Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Brother, both members of the Taliban leadership council led by Omar, had been in the area of the fighting at least until Tuesday. "We have concrete reports that they were there until at least the day before yesterday," he said. "They may still be there, they could have escaped, or they could have been killed." Mashal said the men were thought to be key links between the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network as well as with Pakistani militant groups and may even have had direct contacts with bin Laden and his number two Ayman al-Zawahri.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ishaq Paiman said earlier the two were hiding in the Dai Chopan area with three other commanders he named as Mullah Abdul Hakim, Mullah Abdul Hanan and Mullah Abdul Basir. Mullah is a title for a Muslim cleric used by many top Taliban members.
General Fateh Khan, a commander taking part in the operation, said they holed up with more than 150 guerrillas. He said Afghan and U.S. troops backed by U.S. helicopter gunships were closing in from three sides to try to capture them, which would be a major coup for the United States and the government of President Hamid Karzai, who came to power after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.