A group of top Taleban commanders appeared to have slipped the net yesterday as Afghan and US forces wrapped up one of the bloodiest offensives since the fall of the regime, officials said. Defense officials in Kabul said earlier that soldiers had surrounded four Taleban chiefs holed up in southern Afghanistanâs mountains, including the brother-in-law of fugitive militant leader Mulla Mohammad Omar. The US military said it was now engaged in a hearts-and-minds drive to bring medical care to a district devastated in the battles and rebuild a mosque, which was destroyed by enemy fighters. âIt looks like the fighting has certainly died off and whatever enemy forces that were in the area that we didnât kill or capture might have fled,â US military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry OâHara told AFP. âWe still donât have visibility on exactly how many fighters were involved.âThe Taleban had always denied that Mulla Dadullah, a key member of the Taleban leadership council, Mulla Brader, said to be Mulla Omarâs relative by marriage, or any other of its commanders were under siege. âI donât know about the Taleban commanders who were said to be surrounded,â Kandahar province security commander Gen. Mohammed Salem told AFP. Troops were still on the ground searching for remnants of a rebel force which last week captured the district headquarters of Mian Nishin, which lies at the violent juncture of Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces, he added. The four-day mission to take out Taleban âsafe havensâ was one of the bloodiest since the fundamentalist regime was ousted by a US-led air campaign after failing to surrender Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
Afghan officials placed the death toll of militants at 132 while the US military estimate of enemy deaths stood at 54, with 22 captured. Many were killed when US warplanes and helicopters supported by British jets launched an 11-hour bombardment on Tuesday. Three policemen were killed and three others wounded. Taleban militants kidnapped 31 people when they took over Mian Nishin. They killed eight of the hostages for allegedly collaborating with US forces and later released the rest. Afghan officials are trying to curb a strong resurgence by the fundamentalist militia before the countryâs first post-Taleban elections in less than three monthsâ time.