| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Afghan troops kill at least 15 Taliban in joint op w/ Canadians |
| 2007-07-15 |
| Canadian troops drove Taliban insurgents into an Afghan army ambush on Saturday and then called in air strikes to hit the fleeing militants, killing at least 15, the Canadian army commander said. The Canadian troops moved in under cover of darkness through grape, poppy and marijuana fields to a suspected Taliban compound in the village of Sangsar, near Kandahar, where fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar once lived and preached at the local mosque. "It was another disruptive operation to limit Taliban influence on an Afghan army checkpoint on Highway One," said Major Dave Quick, in charge of the operation, referring to the main road that loops around southern Afghanistan. The Canadian troops opened fire at first light, with Afghan army units waiting in ambush for the group of about 60 Taliban insurgents along their predicted line of retreat. "We had multiple contacts and there was air support that dropped about eight 500-pound (230kg) bombs on Taliban positions," he said. "We estimate that we got about 15 to 20 of them." Troops captured an anti-tank weapon capable of piercing their armoured vehicles. They also found assault rifles, grenades and armour-piercing shells in and around the compound. A Taliban spokesman said 27 Afghan and NATO soldiers were killed in fighting in the same district, but a Reuters correspondent with Canadian troops on the operation said there were no casualties among the soldiers. The spokesman said local Taliban commander Mullah Razaq was also killed in the fighting in southern Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Dakota Freedom |
| #6 "through grape, poppy and marijuana fields"?!? Were they accompanied by the ghosts of Julio Gallo, the Tin Man, and Abbie Hoffman? |
| Posted by: Ho Chi Spomosh2247 2007-07-15 22:42 |
| #5 More dead Talibani means more mulch for the opium poppy fields ... A win-win situation |
| Posted by: Tell D Truth 2007-07-15 20:40 |
| #4 Must have caught 'em by surprise before they could get their shields up. |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2007-07-15 18:09 |
| #3 What? No civilian casualties? |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2007-07-15 18:08 |
| #2 Dakota Freedom? A new poster with feelgood sunshiney news :-) Welcome! Gotta love ambushing the running dogs |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-15 16:56 |
| #1 Nice post, Dakota Freedom. :-) And a nice maneuver by the Canadians and the Afghans together -- well done, gentlemen! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-15 16:12 |