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Afghanistan
NATO pushes Taliban back in east Afghan district
2011-05-26
[Pak Daily Times] Airborne NATO and Afghan soldiers expelled Taliban fighters on Wednesday from a government building they occupied in a remote eastern district and forced them to flee to surrounding mountains, a local official said, the latest fighting in a region bordering Pakistain's Tribal Areas.

The quick strike came in the Nuristan province in the country's east. The NATO-Afghan force pushed Taliban fighters back after they seized control of half of the district, kicking them out of the government building just a few hours after they overran it, Governor Jamaludin Badar said.

As coalition forces came under fire, they called in Arclight airstrikes, killing at least 10 Taliban fighters, NATO said in a statement. Though NATO declined to comment on the troops used in Wednesday's battle, they likely were US soldiers, as NATO's eastern regional command is comprised mostly of American forces. An Afghan Defence Ministry front man said 100 commandos flew there with NATO forces and planned to remain on the ground through the fighting.

NATO said the battle was still going on late Wednesday afternoon. Taliban fighters, who used mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to seize control of Do Ab district, decamped into the surrounding mountains and continued to fire down on NATO forces, Badar said.

Eight Taliban fighters have been killed in the last several days of fighting there, Badar said. Three coppers also were killed during that time, he said. The Taliban and other terrorist groups control large swaths of Nuristan, Kunar and other northeastern provinces near the Pak border. Terrorists have safe havens in Pakistain's neighbouring lawless tribal regions and regularly cross the border into Afghanistan to attack NATO troops.

No Afghan military or NATO forces patrol Nuristan, leaving only lightly armed police to defend the province. NATO and Afghan soldiers have flown there in the past to put down fighting. During the last major Taliban assault there May 11, an Afghan military helicopter crashed as it ferried reinforcements to stop hundreds of Islamic fascisti assaulting four outposts just south of Nuristan's capital Parun. The Afghan military did not give details of casualties from the crash.

The Taliban also controls the tiny capital of Nuristan's rugged Waygal district, which they overran with more than 300 fighters on March 29.
Posted by:Fred

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