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Afghanistan
30 Taliban killed in Afghanistan
2008-08-01
A series of clashes in southern Afghanistan killed 30 Taliban militants, while insurgents and a roadside blast killed five police, officials said. A NATO soldier also died after being wounded in a militant attack. The militants were killed during three days of clashes in southern Uruzgan province, said provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat on Wednesday. Nine other militants and five policemen were wounded.

Authorities detained 10 other militants following the operation near the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, Himat said. The report could not be independently verified because of the remoteness of the area.

Afghanistan is facing a raging insurgency nearly seven years after the Taliban were ousted from power, and the country's south is the primary hub for the militancy.
Posted by:Fred

#3  But my sense is that Pashtun society accepts a certain rate of death from violence, the way we accept a certain number of deaths from auto accidents or teen suicides. If there was no Jihad, theyd be fighting the guys from the next tribe over an insult to honor. So I think this level of casualties may well be sustainable, and thats even assuming some portion of the Pashtuns are NOT participating in the Jihad.
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer   2008-08-01 16:26  

#2  Muslims societies where a male can accumulate 4 wives leaves a lot of excess males. The 5-6000/per years dead in the Afghan jihad is a small thing. Especially considering the western aid and the billions $ of profits from the Afghan supply line is carrying the Pakistani economy. Before Sept 2001, the Paki economy was in a death spiral from sanctions fallout of their A-bomb tests. Since then the Paki stock market has increased 15 times. The Manhattan and Washington DC attacks was the Pakistani's risky play to change the international sanctions calculus.
Posted by: ed   2008-08-01 16:13  

#1  An enemy loss rate of 30 a day comes to an annual toll of 11000. Pakistan has 1m males reaching their majority every year, of whom roughly 150,000 are Pathans. A death rate of 1/15 is nothing to sniff at. I think the religious zealots eventually get tired of having their sons killed - in a society where sons are your retirement plan.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2008-08-01 16:02  

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