 COALITION warplanes bombed Taliban meeting in a mosque in southern Afghanistan, killing up to 50 suspected rebels, Afghan and the US-led coalition officials said. Five Canadian soldiers were wounded and a suspected Taliban killed in a gun battle elsewhere in the volatile south.
The coalition said they dropped a bomb on the rebels when they retreated into a compound after attacking an Afghan and coalition patrol in restive Helmand province's Kajaki district. "The Taliban had gathered for a meeting in a mosque and coalition forces identified their location," Helmand province's deputy governor Amir Mohammad Akhunzada said. "In an attack by planes, around 50 Taliban were killed," he said.
| Taliban have yet to figure out that the best way for us to kill them is for them to gather in one spot. Any spot. Anywhere in Afghanistan. |
Coalition spokesman Major Quentin Innes said he could believe the figures given by Mr Akhunzada. "Based on the incident, that's not an unreasonable number," he said, after he was asked if the figures were accurate.
| "Based on the mess and the number of limbs, lips and noses, we have no reason to dispute the figure." |
"This morning Afghan national security forces and coalition forces were attacked by ... suspected Taliban in Helmand province," the spokesman said. A spokesman for the governor's office Mohaidin Khan confirmed the bombing but had no information on the casualties. |