seruriermarshal
05-25-2004, 07:50 PM
U.S. Air Raids Kill 20 Taliban, Afghan Officials Say
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (*******) - At least 20 suspected Taliban were killed in U.S. air strikes in southern Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Tuesday, Afghan officials said.
The U.S. military in Kabul could not confirm the attacks.
If confirmed, the losses would be among the largest suffered in a single battle by the Taliban. In June last year, 40 Taliban and seven Afghan soldiers were reported killed in clashes in the south of Afghanistan, although no U.S. aircraft were involved.
Khan Mohammad, a corps commander in the southern city of Kandahar, said Afghan forces had been engaged in fierce clashes with suspected Taliban near the town of Spin Boldak, which lies on the Pakistani border.
"There has been fighting going on between Afghan forces and the Taliban," he told *******. "They called in U.S. (air) support."
He said 20 Taliban had been killed and that fighting continued. A second Kandahar official, who asked not to be named, said at least 28 Taliban had died.
A spokeswoman for the 20,000-strong American-led force in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban militia ousted by a U.S. invasion in 2001 said she had no comment on the report.
"For security reasons, we can't disclose any details," she said.
The militant Islamist Taliban had harbored al Qaeda fighters believed to have been behind September 2001 attacks on the United States. They continue to resist Western forces in the country and the U.S.-backed government.
Over 700 people have died in violence in Afghanistan since August, most of it involving clashes with militants.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/images/usaf.gif
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (*******) - At least 20 suspected Taliban were killed in U.S. air strikes in southern Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Tuesday, Afghan officials said.
The U.S. military in Kabul could not confirm the attacks.
If confirmed, the losses would be among the largest suffered in a single battle by the Taliban. In June last year, 40 Taliban and seven Afghan soldiers were reported killed in clashes in the south of Afghanistan, although no U.S. aircraft were involved.
Khan Mohammad, a corps commander in the southern city of Kandahar, said Afghan forces had been engaged in fierce clashes with suspected Taliban near the town of Spin Boldak, which lies on the Pakistani border.
"There has been fighting going on between Afghan forces and the Taliban," he told *******. "They called in U.S. (air) support."
He said 20 Taliban had been killed and that fighting continued. A second Kandahar official, who asked not to be named, said at least 28 Taliban had died.
A spokeswoman for the 20,000-strong American-led force in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban militia ousted by a U.S. invasion in 2001 said she had no comment on the report.
"For security reasons, we can't disclose any details," she said.
The militant Islamist Taliban had harbored al Qaeda fighters believed to have been behind September 2001 attacks on the United States. They continue to resist Western forces in the country and the U.S.-backed government.
Over 700 people have died in violence in Afghanistan since August, most of it involving clashes with militants.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/images/usaf.gif