Uncle Sam
03-15-2004, 12:19 PM
http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/391183|top|03-15-2004::10:12|*******.html
KABUL (*******) - U.S. forces swooped down on a cave hideout of Islamic militants in southern Afghanistan, killing three and detaining 13 as part of a new offensive against the Taliban and al Qaeda, the U.S. military said on Monday.
Suspected Taliban militants, meanwhile, attacked a police post west of the city of Kandahar Monday, killing an Afghan policeman and wounding another in the latest guerrilla attack.
U.S. spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty told reporters in Kabul that dozens of U.S. troops, including special forces, took part in Saturday's helicopter-assisted raid on a cave complex southwest of Qalat, capital of Zabul province.
"We surprised them and we went there and we landed there," he said. "U.S. Special Forces were involved. The people we killed, we engaged them with direct fire with rifles and machineguns."
Three militants were killed in the resulting firefight and five detained, he said, adding that eight more suspects were detained the following day in the same area in a compound containing propaganda material directed against U.S.-led forces.
Hilferty did not identify the suspects detained, but on Sunday an Afghan military officer said three Taliban commanders were detained in a joint raid with U.S. forces in Zabul aimed at former Taliban provincial governor, Mullah Abdul Razzaq.
He identified the three as Mullah Naimatullah, Mullah Saleh Mohammad and Mullah Baluch. A mullah is an Islamic cleric and many senior Taliban members use the title.
A senior government commander also said that Thursday, 12 Taliban fighters were killed in a U.S. air-strike on their truck in Kandahar province. Hilferty said he had no information about the involvement of U.S. forces in such a raid.
He said the Zabul raid was part of Operation Mountain Storm, a continuing broad offensive against Al Qaeda and the Taliban launched on March 7 across southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Hilferty said the operation was designed to continue to put pressure on leaders of the Taliban and al Qaeda, including the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden.
The fresh U.S.-led campaign comes after a surge in militant attacks on aid workers and foreigners, as well as against Afghan and U.S.-led forces, raising concerns about security for elections due to held later this year. The latest attack, on a police post in Maymand district about 30 miles west of Kandahar city, was carried out by militants traveling in two cars.
"One of the attackers was wounded in the exchange of fire, but they escaped," Khan Mohammad, the commander of Kandahar's second military corps, told *******.
Afghan officials complain that militants have been able to launch attacks and slip across the border to safety in neighboring Pakistan, the main backer of the Taliban when it was in power, but now a key ally in Washington's "war on terror."
Pakistan forces say they are sealing the Pakistan side of the mountainous Afghan border aided by some tribal fighters, to stop militants fleeing into Pakistan's remote, lawless tribal lands.
KABUL (*******) - U.S. forces swooped down on a cave hideout of Islamic militants in southern Afghanistan, killing three and detaining 13 as part of a new offensive against the Taliban and al Qaeda, the U.S. military said on Monday.
Suspected Taliban militants, meanwhile, attacked a police post west of the city of Kandahar Monday, killing an Afghan policeman and wounding another in the latest guerrilla attack.
U.S. spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty told reporters in Kabul that dozens of U.S. troops, including special forces, took part in Saturday's helicopter-assisted raid on a cave complex southwest of Qalat, capital of Zabul province.
"We surprised them and we went there and we landed there," he said. "U.S. Special Forces were involved. The people we killed, we engaged them with direct fire with rifles and machineguns."
Three militants were killed in the resulting firefight and five detained, he said, adding that eight more suspects were detained the following day in the same area in a compound containing propaganda material directed against U.S.-led forces.
Hilferty did not identify the suspects detained, but on Sunday an Afghan military officer said three Taliban commanders were detained in a joint raid with U.S. forces in Zabul aimed at former Taliban provincial governor, Mullah Abdul Razzaq.
He identified the three as Mullah Naimatullah, Mullah Saleh Mohammad and Mullah Baluch. A mullah is an Islamic cleric and many senior Taliban members use the title.
A senior government commander also said that Thursday, 12 Taliban fighters were killed in a U.S. air-strike on their truck in Kandahar province. Hilferty said he had no information about the involvement of U.S. forces in such a raid.
He said the Zabul raid was part of Operation Mountain Storm, a continuing broad offensive against Al Qaeda and the Taliban launched on March 7 across southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Hilferty said the operation was designed to continue to put pressure on leaders of the Taliban and al Qaeda, including the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden.
The fresh U.S.-led campaign comes after a surge in militant attacks on aid workers and foreigners, as well as against Afghan and U.S.-led forces, raising concerns about security for elections due to held later this year. The latest attack, on a police post in Maymand district about 30 miles west of Kandahar city, was carried out by militants traveling in two cars.
"One of the attackers was wounded in the exchange of fire, but they escaped," Khan Mohammad, the commander of Kandahar's second military corps, told *******.
Afghan officials complain that militants have been able to launch attacks and slip across the border to safety in neighboring Pakistan, the main backer of the Taliban when it was in power, but now a key ally in Washington's "war on terror."
Pakistan forces say they are sealing the Pakistan side of the mountainous Afghan border aided by some tribal fighters, to stop militants fleeing into Pakistan's remote, lawless tribal lands.