Taliban fighters are asking Canadian and Afghan forces to return the bodies of their fighters killed over the weekend in bloody battles. As many as 72 Taliban insurgents were killed in the offensive west of Kandahar, according to NATO officials. "Witnesses at the scene say there were bodies everywhere, in and around this village that has been a Taliban hotbed where they had been amassing recently," reported CTV's Matt McClure from Kandahar. Sources tell The Canadian Press that 18 bodies have been returned so far in a gesture of reconciliation.
| "Here you go. What, oh..those boxs taped to their chests? It's a gift for their next of kin. To be opened in private, be careful not to drop them, they're rather fragile. heh." |
However, The Canadian Press cited sources who reported that as many as seven Afghan soldiers were killed in the fighting. Though it is not clear who initiated the fighting, it took place after suspected Taliban insurgents attacked a market in Panjwaii and overran a police checkpoint, according to McClure. "Afghan forces battled on their own for some four hours trying to repulse these insurgents before Canadian forces arrived on the scene in their Light Armoured Vehicles," he told CTV Newsnet. "We're told the battle then raged through the night, some 12 hours, almost into the morning time."
Heavy artillery and coalition air support were called in before the fighting ended, McClure said. By the time the battle did come to a close, bodies and body parts were scattered around the area in a gruesome display of bloodshed, according to reports.
NATO said in a statement the fighting was part of "deliberate operations," in the region. ''Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF inflicted heavy casualties against Taliban fighters in Kandahar's Panjwaii district,'' the statement read. It was ''a deliberate operation to extend security along southern Afghanistan's Highway 1 corridor.''
While the battle is considered a success, it is by no means the end of the campaign, says the multinational brigade commander, Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser. "There's no such thing as one decisive battle that they're finished," he told McClure in an interview. "There's no such thing as the end of summer when they throw in the towel and they throw in the rifles and they say, that's it, we're done."
When asked about the mounting Canadian casualties, Fraser said troops understand the importance of the mission. "Every soldier that I've talked to has said that they believe in what they're doing here and they're more determined than ever to go back out there and do what they were doing."
Twenty-six Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since the Forces were deployed there in 2002.