220 Taliban reportedly killed in Afghan south

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-02 07:59

US-led coalition and Afghan troops killed more than 220 suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan last week, the US military said Monday, the biggest recent toll of insurgent deaths.

Several residents said more than 70 civilians were killed in air strikes by foreign forces in the Sangin district of Helmand province.

"The operation is mostly wrapped up. The troops killed more than 220 militants," US military spokesman Nathan Perry said.

He said he was not aware of any civilian casualties.

File photo shows Pakistani army soldiers on patrol in Miranshah, the main town in the restive region of North Waziristan along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Taliban militants have shot dead a security guard of a local intelligence office, accusing him of spying. [Agencies]

Violence in Afghanistan has surged this year to its worst level, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, and tempers have been running high over rising civilian casualties.

Monday a suicide bomber hit a convoy of NATO forces in the northern city of Kunduz but caused no major casualties, a provincial official said. One passerby was wounded.

The four-day operation in Helmand was launched after militants attacked a military convoy carrying equipment for a power-supply dam in the Kajaki area.

"Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces were attacked repeatedly with small arms and heavy-weapons fire during multiple engagements," the US military said in a statement.

"The soldiers responded with small-arms fire, heavy-weapons and close air support, eliminating the militant threats."

There were no military casualties in the fighting in the area between Sangin and Kajaki districts, Perry said.

The Taliban were not immediately available for comment, making it difficult to assess how big a blow the deaths of the 220 fighters would be. In the past they have accused foreign forces of making exaggerated claims.

Killings anger Afghans

Monday, hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Kabul accusing US-led troops of killing three members of a family, including two children, in a raid earlier in the day.

NATO and US military officials could not be reached for comment on the allegation, the latest in a string of incidents that have angered Afghans and caused a split between the Afghan government and foreign troops.

Residents said US-led troops carried out a pre-dawn raid in Hud Kheil area in the eastern quarter of Kabul, killing a man identified by neighbors as Noorullah and two of his sons.

Several US and NATO military bases are located in the area. Three people were taken away by the troops, residents said.

President Hamid Karzai last week ordered a review of foreign troops in Afghanistan after his administration said 96 civilians were killed in an air raid by the US-led coalition in western Herat. The US military said it had targeted militants and that an investigation was being carried out.

More than 500 civilians have been killed during operations by foreign and Afghan forces against the militants so far this year, according to the Afghan government and some aid groups.

Agencies