Major NATO Offensive In Afghanistan
A major NATO operation in Afghanistan by NATO forces has killed a reported 200 Taliban fighters. Four Canadian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. The aircraft that crashed yesterday, killing 14 British servicemen was not shot down as the Taliban tried to claim. Then craft had reported a technical problem prior to the crash.
If the estimate is confirmed, the battle would be one of the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago. Reporters could not reach all the combat zone because officials barred traffic from all but one road in this part of southern Kandahar province.
An Associated Press reporter who traveled to Pashmul saw warplanes drop five bombs within about 20 minutes on orchards where militants were believed hiding. The reporter was about 300 yards away.
Explosions echoed across grape and pomegranate fields and clouds of dust rose amid the greenery and dried-mud houses of the Panjwayi district, which is about 12 miles from Kandahar city.
Operation Medusa was launched Saturday to flush out Taliban fighters from Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari district. NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said alliance and Afghan troops had gained ground and disrupted the militants' command system so guerrillas were moving in confusion.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Taliban casualties were high, but could not confirm the NATO report of more than 200 dead.
A NATO statement said its figure was derived from "surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby."
About 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested by Afghan police and a further 180 fled the area, it said.
The alliance said it had no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used. But a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Gen. Zahir Azimi, said earlier that an undetermined number of civilians were killed.
Jason Husiak, a spokesman at the Canadian Department of National Defense, said four Canadian soldiers died in Sunday's fighting and others were wounded.
NATO said seven soldiers in its International Security Assistance Force were wounded, one seriously. The other six were expected to return to duty within a few days, it said.
There was no word on any casualties among Afghan troops.
On Saturday, a reconnaissance plane supporting Operation Medusa crashed, killing all 14 British servicemen on board. NATO said the crash was not caused by hostile fire, saying the plane reported a technical problem before it went down. Investigators examined the wreckage Sunday.
Civilians have evacuated the areas of the offensive leaving only Taliban fighters according to reports from Afghan civilians.
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Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » Canada Kicking Some Butt — Monday, 4 September , 2006 @ 12:34 am
By Blackhawk, Monday, 4 September , 2006 @ 7:27 pm
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012984.php (H/T to Andi at MilBlogs).
and see also Michelle Malkin’s ‘Convert or Die’ entry. Islamofascist propaganda and overt threats to those who won’t push their, and only their, side of a story.