NEWS: Twenty-two Taliban killed in Afghanistan
Posted By Bouhammer on September 30, 2009
Afghan and international forces have killed 22 Taliban militants in a fierce battle in western Afghanistan, the Afghan interior ministry said Wednesday.
In an operation Tuesday night by Afghan police and army, backed by coalition forces, which lasted almost four hours in Farah province, 25 insurgents were also wounded and another 12 arrested, the ministry said in a statement.
“Eight rocket launchers, 35 Kalashnikovs, one device for detonating remote-controlled bombs, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and some anti-vehicle mines were also discovered,” the statement said. There were no police casualties, it added.
The central region of Farah province where the battle took place has been increasingly encroached upon by Taliban militants, who in recent months have escalated their insurgency against government and coalition troops.
The operation in the Pusht Rod district of Farah began at 8:30 pm (1600 GMT) and lasted until midnight, the ministry said. It gave no further details.
Farah borders Helmand province, where Taliban influence is strong and coalition troops have been facing intensified resistance from Taliban-linked fighters for the last few months.
US Marines are battling to clear heavily mined areas, such as the Bhuji Bhast Pass which is essentially a Taliban corridor 36 kilometres (22 miles long) and the only route between Golestan village and Deleram city.
Villages in the area are also regarded as hostile to the foreign forces, who are battling to adopt a new strategy in the war that wins the confidence of ordinary people away from supporting the Taliban.
The US and NATO have more than 100,000 troops based in Afghanistan to wipe out the Taliban threat, with the fiercest fighting in Helmand and Kandahar, which are seeing an escalation of deaths caused by remote-controlled bombs.
The interior ministry statement comes as US President Barack Obama is weighing a request from his military top brass for additional 30,000-40,000 troops for Afghanistan as part of a change in strategy from killing insurgents to protecting civilians and promoting development.
This is good news, though I’m a bit surprised they took down 59 armed bad guys with no friendly casualties. Looking at it again, I see it says, “no police casualties.” Anything on possible Afghan army casualties?