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200 Taliban Killed In Fighting
NATO And Afghan Forces Conduct Major Operation In Southern Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 3, 2006
Members of the NATO led Coalition force in the southern city of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006. (AP Photo)
NATO said there were no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used.
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(AP) Afghan and NATO forces killed more than 200 Taliban fighters in a major operation in southern Afghanistan, NATO said Sunday, in some of the deadliest fighting since the U.S.-led ouster of the hardline regime five years ago.
Four soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed and seven others were wounded in the fighting in Kandahar province, a statement from the alliance said. Some 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested and a further 180 fled the area, it said.
"Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation Medusa began early Saturday morning," the statement said.
The casualty counts could not be independently confirmed as the battlefield could not be reached by reporters. An Associated Press reporter who traveled into Panjwayi district, where the fighting is concentrated, saw warplanes drop five bombs within about 20 minutes on orchards where Taliban fighters were believed to be hiding. The reporter was standing about 300 meters away.
Earlier Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said there had been at least 40 artillery and air strikes since Saturday, and 89 militants and a number of civilians had died during the two days of fighting in Panjwayi, about 12 miles west of the city of Kandahar.
Azimi cited intelligence reports but did not elaborate on how the Defense Ministry's number was obtained.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said the Taliban casualties were high, but could not confirm the NATO report of more than 200 dead.
The NATO statement said its figure was arrived at "by reviewing information from ISAF surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby."
NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said the NATO and Afghan forces had gained ground during the operation, and had disrupted the militants' command and control so their fighters were moving in a confused way.
NATO said there were no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used at odds with Azimi's report.
The alliance did not identify nationality of its dead and injured soldiers. It said six of the seven wounded were expected to return to duty within a few days.
On Saturday, a reconnaissance plane supporting Operation Medusa in Panjwayi crashed, killing all 14 British troops on board. NATO said it was not caused by hostile fire.
NATO forces took command of security in Afghanistan's volatile southern provinces from a U.S.-led coalition in August, amid an upsurge in attacks by Taliban-led fighters.
For the past four months, hundreds of people, mostly militants, have been killed in this former Taliban heartland as international forces have confronted the insurgents.
