NATO, Afghan Troops Make Move on Taliban

By CANDACE RONDEAUX

By Candace Rondeaux

The Washington Post

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Hundreds of Afghan and Canadian troops launched a major attack Wednesday against Taliban fighters who have moved into several villages in southern Afghanistan in recent days, according to military officials.

Troops with the Afghan army and the Canadian command of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force initiated joint patrols around the district of Arghandab in the province of Kandahar early in the morning. Helicopter gunships flew overhead and armored vehicles rolled into the district as Taliban fighters exchanged fire with NATO and Afghan forces.

Kandahar’s provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, said at least 16 Taliban fighters were killed and four injured in the counteroffensive. He said insurgents had staked out positions in the orchards of Arghandab and were generally surrounded by NATO and Afghan forces.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity said there were no reported NATO casualties. A NATO general told the Reuters news service that some Afghan troops had been killed.

“The operation is on track and on schedule, Laity said. “So far, we’ve had only minor contact with insurgents.”

Laity said Afghan and Canadian troops confirmed that there was a Taliban presence in Arghandab, but he added that reports that hundreds of insurgents were active in the region were “greatly exaggerated.”

Saqib, the provincial police chief, said it was difficult to estimate the exact number of insurgents in the region but that the numbers probably were exaggerated by Taliban spokesmen. There “are not that many to worry about,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Zaher Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said airstrikes were under way in the area and that Afghan and NATO forces used heavy artillery to flush out fighters in the villages of Kohak and Nagahan.

“The Taliban are positioning to escape,” Azimi said. “They have already left some of the villages which were under control. But there are still some Taliban hiding.”

Preparations for the Afghan-led counteroffensive in Arghandab began Monday after officials reported that about 500 Taliban fighters had taken control of at least nine villages in the district.

Arghandab is about 12 miles northwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city. Hundreds of residents began fleeing the area Tuesday after Taliban insurgents blew up three bridges and laid mines along several roadways around Arghandab.

Originally published by BY CANDACE RONDEAUX.

(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.