 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - More than 40 insurgents were killed Saturday as hundreds of coalition troops, many dropped by helicopter, wrested a desert town from the Taliban and U.S. forces battled militants across southern Afghanistan, officials said.
Before dawn Saturday, more than 300 British paratroopers, backed by hundreds of U.S. and Canadian forces, launched a raid in Sangin, where hundreds of Taliban had massed in preparation for attacks, said coalition spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy. "Coalition forces killed 10 Taliban and drove the others out, but it is difficult to say if the remainder are still nearby," Lundy said.
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The assault was part of Operation Mountain Thrust, an anti-Taliban offensive involving more than 10,000 U.S.-led troops. Coalition forces will remain in Sangin until the Taliban threat has been wiped out and Afghan authorities can reach out to impoverished residents to promote reconstruction efforts, Lundy said. The Sangin Valley is a "natural corridor" for Taliban and criminal movement in southern Afghanistan, plus opium poppy cultivation, with the Taliban believed to use some of the proceeds to buy weapons, Lundy said. |