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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban Slaughter Civilians |
| 2007-06-22 |
| Taliban fighters executed Afghan civilians, including women, who refused to join them during a recent fierce battle against NATO and Afghan government forces in the south, the Dutch military chief said Friday. Citing "solid reports" from Afghan police, Gen. Dick Berlijn said Dutch and Afghan forces, supported by Dutch and U.S. air strikes, fended off an attempt by about 500 Taliban fighters to overrun the southern town of Chora last weekend. During the attack, Taliban fighters tried to force local civilians to fight alongside them, "and killed citizens who refused - they were hauled out of their houses by the Taliban and executed," Berlijn told reporters. "One police checkpoint commander saw two brothers murdered before his eyes by the Taliban," Berlijn said. Another police report "said that eight women were murdered - they had their throats slashed," he added. Berlijn said reports suggested that between 30 and 70 enemy fighters were killed in the fighting that started June 15 and raged for several days. He said he had no reliable figures for civilian casualties, but local officials have said more than 100 people were killed in the fighting, including 16 police. It was not immediately clear if the figure included Taliban casualties. One Dutch soldier died. Berlijn said he appeared to have been killed by accident from a Dutch mortar and not by enemy fire. Three Dutch troops were injured. Two Taliban commanders of the Chora attack were killed. Berlijn identified them as Mullah Mutalib and Mullah Ismael. "We have delivered a heavy blow to the enemy," Berlijn said. "Many fighters have been killed, including two important Taliban leaders." The heavy fighting in Chora and a deadly suicide attack on a convoy in nearby Tirin Kot a week ago killed two Dutch soldiers, bringing the number of dead among the country's 2,000-strong NATO force in southern Uruzgan province to eight since they were sent there nearly a year ago. In an indication of the danger Dutch troops and local forces fighting the Taliban face, Berlijn said Dutch forces on Thursday night dismantled a factory for making so-called improvised explosive devices. "We found various materials to make roadside bombs ... including detonators, explosives and a vehicle that was being transformed into a suicide bomb," Berlijn said. Troops detained 13 suspects at the factory, which was in Tirin Kot, close to the main Dutch base. The Dutch mission is due to finish in August 2008 and lawmakers and the government will debate in coming weeks whether to extend their mandate. The troops were sent last year after weeks of heated debate in parliament with the primary task of rebuilding the war-shattered country, but Berlijn conceded that work cannot always be carried out. "The motto of our mission is, 'rebuild if we can, fight if we must,'" he said. "In recent days in Chora, we have fought." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #13 Will the U.S. media be reporting this kiling of civilians? |
| Posted by: Keystone 2007-06-22 21:19 |
| #12 Nope. Not news. They were probably collaborators or something. Only the US and Israel kill unarmed civilians, baby ducks, or fluffy bunnies. |
| Posted by: the MSM 2007-06-22 19:41 |
| #11 Word, Tony. Every last letter and dot. Bravo author! (Weird! The deleted spam shows up in the commenting review text.) |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-22 19:19 |
| #10 '"Taliban fighters executed Afghan civilians, including women" This must be some new, postmodern, definition of the word 'fighter'. As yet, the West is fighting with one hand behind its back and the other one in its mouth, and all killing of Taliban filth is happening by the fortuitous farting in their general direction. and yet still they die by the bucketload. However, this is not enough. This needs to stop. Our soldiers need to kill them by the truckload. Chase them, harry them, follow them over 'borders' and kill them in their beds, their villages, their camps and in their shitters. Kill them. And when you think you've killed enough, think of the women whose throats were cut because they woudn't 'fight' to remain slaves. And then kill more of them. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2007-06-22 18:52 |
| #9 What the hell? Mods - cleanup on aisles 7 and 8. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-06-22 18:23 |
#8
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| Posted by: Injun Elmeagum2612 2007-06-22 18:11 |
#7
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| Posted by: Injun Elmeagum2612 2007-06-22 18:11 |
| #6 Canadian socialists demand we abandon the people of Afghanistan to the Taliban. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-06-22 16:50 |
| #5 The Brave Lions of Islam™ doing what they do best. Mowing down people that can't fight back. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-06-22 16:47 |
| #4 No mystery here. Killing civilians is what the Taliban does best. Afghani people need to begin killing the Taliban whenever they show their faces. Nothing will change until then. Not doing so makes them complicit by default. If they do not take an interest in killing those who would destroy their newly-freed country, they have no right to criticize our own actions in putting down this threat to global security. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-22 16:04 |
| #3 Taliban fighters executed Afghan civilians, including women... "Fighters" huh? Long overdue to change thier designation dontcha think? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-06-22 15:13 |
| #2 "You must fight or die!!" "Ok, fine - gimme a gun, brother!" "Allah be praised! Here!" "Thanks, you gullible jerk." (Bangety-bang-bang...) |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-06-22 15:09 |
| #1 fended off an attempt by about 500 Taliban fighters More half-trained idiots does not a functional fighting force make. "The motto of our mission is, 'rebuild if we can, fight if we must,'" he said. "In recent days in Chora, we have fought." Hurrah for the Dutch! It sounds like that have very useful orders. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-22 15:00 |