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Heavy Casualties Feared in Afghanistan |
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Written by Bhuwan Thapaliya (Bhuwan)
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Monday, 21 August 2006 |
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Not since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 resulted in the defeat of Taliban regime have the battle lines in Afghanistan been so clearly drawn as they have during the series of weekend clashed between the NATO led troops and the Taliban insurgents in Panjwayi district of the southern Kandahar province.
In the deadliest attack, Taliban rebels attacked the town of Panjwayi in Kandahar province late Saturday, from three directions and began fighting with local police, according to sources.
Local police were immediately reinforced by the Afghan army and NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), who surrounded the area and fired back with the help of NATO aircraft, officials said.
The violence, on the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from Britain in 1919, led to the death of more than 70 militants, local police said.
"So far, we've recovered the bodies of 72 Taliban," district governor Neyaz Mohammad Sarhadi said, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.
However a purported Taliban spokesman said only 12 fighters were killed.
At least four members of the Afghan security forces were also reported to have been killed.
The bodies of the dead militants were found in three locations, scattered through orchards alongside their weapons, said Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, the district chief to the AP.
"The police are still searching for the dead bodies of Taliban," Sarhadi said.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, three U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded during a fight with Taliban militants in Pech district in eastern Kunar province on Saturday, according to Col. Tom Collins, the U.S. Military spokesman.
Their combat patrol struck a homemade bomb before they engaged "a group of Taliban extremists," a U.S. military statement said.
Currently about 22,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan along with 20,000 NATO-led troops. ISAF, which has 21,000 troops from 37 nations, is also in charge of the west and north where it is trying to extend government authority and ease reconstruction projects, according to the media reports.
Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 but the Taliban insurgency has shown no signs of abating despite the efforts of both national and international forces.
And this has raised further questions about the value of foreign troops stationed all around Afghanistan. But where does all that leave the Afghans?
"The Afghan's position could be even worse than this under the Taliban's tyranny had there been not the presence of International forces," most observers are saying.
But how long does the International force have to remain in Afghanistan? This is the second most difficult question to answer after the first question regarding the Taliban's legacy.
For now, no one can answer these questions and it is far from certain that they will even in the near future.
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2006/08/21
© 2006 Ohmynews |
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