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| Afghanistan |
| Dozens of Taliban killed in clash |
| 2006-05-24 |
| SIXTY Taliban and five members of the Afghan security forces were killed in a major new clash in Afghanistan today as the US-led coalition defended itself against mounting criticism of civilian deaths. The suspected insurgents were killed in a "fierce" six-hour battle and subsequent clean-up operation in southern Uruzgan province late yesterday, a top Afghan general and the coalition said. The Afghan army called in coalition air support, said General Rahmatullah Raufi, who commands Afghan forces in the south. Four soldiers and a policeman also died, he and a police spokesman said. The fighting started when a joint Afghan and coalition combat patrol returned fire after several Taliban rebels hiding in a nearby compound shot at them, a coalition statement said. "Afghan and coalition forces beat back the attack with heavy machine gun fire and forced the attackers to retreat. Enemy fighters then attempted to reinforce with additional militants from two nearby compounds," it said. The coalition put the militant death toll at 24. The coalition and Afghan forces often give differing casualty figures. Uruzgan is among several provinces that have seen major clashes in the past week in a spike in insurgency-linked fighting that has killed close to 400 people, most of them rebels. A 1400-strong force of Dutch troops is headed to the province as part of a NATO-led force that will take over from the coalition in the volatile south in the coming weeks. The latest violence has been some of the heaviest since the Taliban was routed in late 2001 and military analysts have said it suggests the insurgents are better organised and aggressive. It has included a major coalition air and ground strike in Panjwayi district of southern Kandahar province that started late Sunday and lasted into Monday. The coalition said it believed up to 80 militants were killed. President Hamid Karzai summoned coalition commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry to demand an explanation for the strike that officials said killed 16 civilians and wounded 15. Afghanistan's main human rights group said it had been told by witnesses and villagers that between 25 and 30 civilians died in the strike, which it condemned as a "clear" violation of human rights. Villagers have said the toll included children, with several homes destroyed by bombs and scores of animals killed. A coalition spokesman defended the force against intensive questioning from journalists, saying US warplanes had used only "precision fire" from aircraft cannon and not bombs. The coalition troops had also been forced to return fire from militants who had occupied the homes of locals. "We didn't know there were civilians in the houses," spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said. The surge in violence comes before the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is due at end July to take over the bulk of operations in the south although without the same active counterinsurgency mandate of the US-led coalition. The expanded ISAF operation will include about 3500 British troops deployed to one of the most hostile parts of the country, Helmand province. A man who claims to lead Taliban in the south warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair against sending troops to his country, The Times newspaper reported today. "My message to Tony Blair and the whole of Britain is; 'Do not send your children here. We will kill them'," the purported leader said in an interview by satellite phone. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Yep, anon5089, like rabbits.... |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-24 14:07 |
| #5 Ed, An excellent point. Those taliban were either invading a civilian home and using them as shields or the civilians were willing acomplices of the taliban. You can tell the "civil" "rights" group is merely another fellow traveller. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2006-05-24 10:30 |
| #4 The "clear violation of human rights" were |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-24 10:27 |
| #3 We kill 80, they kill 5 (...) At the rate we are killing them, they will go extinct as a race eventually. Problem is, they breed 160 and endoctrinate 100. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-05-24 10:26 |
| #2 Day-O. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-05-24 10:15 |
| #1 We kill 80, they kill 5. How long can they last at that rate? And still they have the bluster to threaten Tony Blair? You gotta give these idiots credit for one thing, they've got chutzpa. Dumber than shit, but they got brass. At the rate we are killing them, they will go extinct as a race eventually. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-05-24 10:12 |