Taliban Smackdown In Afghanistan
I eagerly anticipate this to be on the news tonight. It won't be the first time I've been let-down.
Afghan and coalition forces killed scores of Taliban insurgents and detained five others in Afghanistan over the past two days, military officials said.
During an operation today in the Andar district of Ghazni province, coalition forces detained five militants. Credible intelligence led the forces to two compounds where militant activity was allegedly occurring, military officials said. Troops found AK-47 assault rifles, combat vests and grenades while searching the compounds. They confiscated these items and destroyed the weapons a safe distance away.
“Coalition forces will continue to root out militants whose activities threaten the peace and stability of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman.
The detainees are being held for questioning, officials said. No civilians were injured in the operation.
Afghan national security forces and coalition advisors killed a significant number of insurgents during an overnight battle that began after Taliban fighters attempted to ambush a vehicle checkpoint near Cahar Cineh, in Uruzgan province.Taliban forces attacked two Afghan National Police vehicles with small arms, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Combined forces retaliated from a nearby firebase, repelling the enemy with small arms, artillery and close-air support in the sparsely populated area of southern Afghanistan, military officials said.
No Afghan or coalition forces were wounded in the engagement. There are no indications that civilian casualties resulted from the fighting, U.S. officials said.
Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops, using artillery and airstrikes, killed 33 Taliban fighters after the insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, while a clash in the northeast also killed dozens of militants, officials said Friday.
The militants in the south attacked two police vehicles with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Coalition and Afghan forces responded in what the coalition described as a "sparsely populated area" in Uruzgan province.
Gen. Zahir Azimi said 33 Taliban fighters were killed. The coalition reported there were no indications of civilian casualties from the fighting and said no coalition or Afghan forces were killed or wounded.
In northeastern Kunar province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said militants ambushed its soldiers, who called in airstrikes on "positively identified enemy firing positions" in a remote area.
Kunar Gov. Shalizai Dedar said that Afghan army commanders told him that dozens of militants were killed. He added that there were reports of civilian deaths, although he said those reports were not confirmed.
"There were some number of insurgents that were killed. We have no reason to believe that any civilians were killed at this time," said Maj. John Thomas, a NATO spokesman.
Violence has spiked in Afghanistan in the last several weeks. More than 3,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year — including more than 2,000 militants, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.
***UPDATE***
100 Taliban go to meet Allah today. 700 in June. Notice how they avoid the use of "terrorists" or "Taliban". Wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of these primitive savages that follow the preachings of the prophet Mohammed (piss be upon him), who was a murderer, thief, rapist, and child molester.
Fierce fighting broke out around Afghanistan on Friday, with battles in three separate regions killing more than 100 militants, part of a cycle of rapidly rising violence five years into the U.S.-led effort to defeat the Taliban.
The governor of northeastern Kunar province said villagers were claiming that airstrikes had killed dozens of civilians, though he said he could not confirm the report.
The fighting — in the south, west and northeast — continues a trend of sharply rising bloodshed the last five weeks, among the deadliest periods here since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
More than 1,000 people were killed in insurgency-related violence in June alone, including 700 militants and 200 civilians.
