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| Afghanistan |
| Fierce Fighting Kills Afghan 'Militants' |
| 2006-05-24 |
| (CBS/AP) Fighting in southern Afghan mountains that involved U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 24 militants, four Afghan soldiers and one policeman, the coalition said Wednesday. An Afghan general said up to 60 militants had died. It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the number of reported casualties, which was impossible to confirm independently because the scene of the fighting is remote and insecure. A coalition statement said the fighting started after a joint Afghan-coalition patrol was attacked in Uruzgan province's Tirin Kot district Tuesday evening. The troops beat back the assault and forced the militants to retreat. Beside the troops and police killed, six Afghan soldiers and three police were wounded, the statement said. The military commander for southern Afghanistan, Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, said four Afghan soldiers had died and that the bodies of about 60 militants were recovered. He said coalition airstrikes were called in toward the end of the battle. Maj. Scott Lundy, a coalition spokesman, confirmed that the coalition provided air support. The fighting began in a small village in Tirin Kot district before the militants fled higher into the mountains, Raufi said. It was there that airstrikes bombed Taliban positions, he said. In the past year, Uruzgan has been the site of some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan, but militants suffered high losses in multiple battles with coalition forces, and the violence there has subsided in recent months. Last Friday, a U.S. soldier was killed and seven wounded in a battle in southern Uruzgan that also saw 20 Taliban militants killed. Militants have stepped up attacks in the last several months, particularly in Afghanistan's southern and eastern regions near its border with Pakistan. Thousands more NATO forces are scheduled to move into the areas in the next few months, during summer in the region. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 As oposed to gentle fighting? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-24 21:24 |
| #7 Aryan pure supermen. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-05-24 15:40 |
| #6 Usually, that's is not the case with a western army, Anonymoose, but we're talking about Muslim warriors here, who already think they're Allah's Supermen. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-05-24 15:09 |
| #5 The good guyz have discovered that if you make it a habit of undercounting the enemy killed, that the enemy make all sorts of subsequent boo-boos. They assume their strength is greater than it is. They also assume that some of their people are MIA/POW, wounded-non-recovered, AWOL, etc. This can lead to lots of headaches for them. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-24 14:53 |
| #4 Dang it...I meant: Must be depressing knowing your best and brightest are now one with the topsoil in Afghanistan and Iraq. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-05-24 12:16 |
| #3 The Talewhackers are bringing minor leaguers from their Class A farm teams and the Rookie Leagues. It's pretty obvious when the Afghan army kill ratio is 4-5:1. Must be depressing knowing your best and brightest are not one with the topsoil in Afghanistan and Iraq. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-05-24 12:15 |
| #2 In the old days they used to spend months and years being trained in Al Qaeda's Afghanistan camps. Now they get a few weeks near the border following graduation from the madrassah, are handed pre-loaded weapons, and sent across. Except for the Palestinians, of course, who have the advantage of summer training camps throughout their school lives, but they are otherwise occupied these days. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-24 12:12 |
| #1 Are the stinkin' Taleeeebahn even tryin anymore? It's like they just wanna die and get their virgins. |
| Posted by: macofromoc 2006-05-24 11:29 |