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Afghanistan
Tora Bora assault: Allies press air, ground attacks
2007-08-17
US and Afghan troops pressed an air and ground assault on Thursday against Al Qaeda militants grouped in the Tora Bora mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the last known hideout of Osama bin Laden.
Afghan media reports said 50 Taliban had been killed but a district governor said these "are only rumours at this stage".
Afghan media reports said 50 Taliban had been killed but a district governor said these "are only rumours at this stage". Local residents said three villages had been bombed by the forces and up to 30 civilians had been killed in the fighting. The US military denied the reports.

Pakistani military said it had reinforced the border to stop militants escaping across the frontier. US military spokeswoman Captain Vanessa Bowman said the operation was intended to disrupt Al Qaeda and other militants in the region. The assault was using precision munitions to avoid civilian casualties, she said, and intelligence indicated the fighters had gathered in dug-in fighting positions.

The US-led coalition here and Afghan officials have reported the emergence of a new anti-government outfit in the area called the Tora Bora Front. The shadowy group is believed to be an Al Qaeda-linked unit set up by the son of Younus Khalis, a key commander in the Afghan resistance to the Soviets, who later joined forces with the Taliban.
If he's not dead yet, Younus must be 158 years old. He was the Count of Jalalabad back in the day.
Posted by:Fred

#8  Most of the quality troops from the Northern Alliance have been absorbed into the ANA and are stationed where they can protect things like Kabul, electric generation plants, water and sewer systems, etc. Those target zones are where one always puts the most reliable troops, since those targets are the big ticket items for a country.
People need to understand that for the first time in its history, Afghanistan has a national government that is holding sway over large areas of the country, not just the 20 miles around Kabul. Afghanistan has NEVER before had a functional central government that actually control things or ran the country - even in the days of the King, he only had control over the major portion of Kabul, everything else was under the control of the local warlords who gave lip service to being "servants of His Majesty".
There is a reason that Afghanistan was known as the "End of the World" from Alexander the Great's time forward : one big, empty, and tribal infested area with too few cities, roads, or navigable rivers to be worth the effort.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2007-08-17 21:13  

#7  Coupla good Sheep Dogs should do it, Border Collies and the like. (IQ of congresscritters is not notacibly above sheep anyway)
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2007-08-17 18:05  

#6  #5 ...dope herders...
Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-08-17 09:35
We need a few of those in Washington. Lord knows we've got enough dopes, especially in Congress.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2007-08-17 12:06  

#5  ...dope herders...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2007-08-17 09:35  

#4  Hey whatever happened to the Northern Alliance? Did they all just go back to being dope farmers and goat herders?
Posted by: tu3031   2007-08-17 08:36  

#3  Because Soylent Green is jihadis?
Posted by: SteveS   2007-08-17 07:39  

#2  why?
Posted by: Pheaper Sinatra3986   2007-08-17 01:48  

#1  The Afghans must have been utterly hypnotized with curiosity as to why the US and NATO consistently undercount enemy killed and wounded. That is just not done in Asia, and they must have spent sleepless weeks pondering it.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-08-17 00:29  

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