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Afghan, NATO operation leaves 14 dead, including 2 children
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 08 - 12 - 2007


A NATO and Afghan operation
to retake a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan
has killed at least 12 Taliban fighters and two children,
the Afghan Defense Ministry said Saturday, according to AP.
In other violence in southern Afghanistan, a NATO soldier
was killed and another wounded in an explosion Saturday,
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. ISAF
did not give any further details about the nationalities of
the casualties or the exact location of the incident.
Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four
months after British troops left the town following a
contentious peace agreement that gave security
responsibilities to Afghan elders. Taliban fighters have
been in control of the town ever since.
A string of battles around Musa Qala in recent months have
signaled a renewed focus by U.S. forces to take on the
Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's poppy-growing south.
Saturday's violence is the latest in a series of deadly
engagements in Helmand province _ the world's largest
poppy-growing region and the front line of Afghanistan's
bloodiest fighting this year.
Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said
elders in the area had asked the Taliban to leave, but when
they refused, the elders sought help from government
troops.
«For some period of time, Musa Qala has become a base for
terrorists. Hundreds of foreign terrorists have gathered
there,» he said.
Twelve Taliban have been killed in fighting since the
operation began Friday afternoon. Separately, two children
were killed when security forces clashed with Taliban
traveling in a convoy with civilians, Azimi said.
«The enemy always tries to use human shields ... and our
demand from them is that they stop putting civilian lives
in danger,» said Azimi.
The Afghan and NATO troops conducting the operation were
positioned to the east, west and south of it, he said.
Next to Musa Qala, in Sangin district, Taliban militants
hanged a 12-year-old boy in an orchard, allegedly because
the boy gave information to the Afghan government and
international forces, said the provincial police chief,
Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.
U.S.-led coalition forces, meanwhile, conducted airstrikes
in an operation targeting a Taliban commander believed to
be responsible for attacks against security forces and
involvement in weapons and drug trafficking, the coalition
said. The U.S.-led forces bombarded the compound where he
was hiding with several militants Friday in Musa Qala
district.
The building was destroyed and «several militants» were
killed, it said. «Multiple secondary explosions were also
reported, indicating the presence of a sizable weapons
cache.»
As NATO and Afghan forces closed in on Musa Qala town,
residents said many villagers remained in their homes as
the area was bombed and were refusing to shelter insurgents
«If we let the Taliban in, NATO will bomb our homes.
We're trying our best not to let the Taliban into our
homes,» said Musa Jan, a resident of Musa Qala district.
Jan said NATO and Afghan security forces had dropped
fliers from helicopters telling villagers: «Don't go
outside your home. We want to bring peace to Musa Qala.»
Taliban commander Mullah Ahmadullah told The Associated
Press by telephone that insurgents were strengthening their
positions in Musa Qala and militants in nearby districts
were pouring into the area for the battle.
«The morale of the Taliban is high. We will fight against
NATO and Afghan forces. We will not lay down our weapons.
We will fight until the death,» Ahmadullah said as he
commanded militants to take their positions.


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