Posted on 02/03/2006 3:31:36 PM PST by blam
Taleban clash 'leaves many dead'
Some 300 army troops were said to have been involved in fighting
Nearly 20 combatants have been killed in a battle between Afghan troops and Taleban fighters in the southern province of Helmand, officials say. Helmand's deputy governor told the BBC that at one point, he and 100 soldiers were surrounded by 200 Taleban.
He said 16 Taleban and three soldiers had been killed, with 13 more wounded.
The BBC's Paul Wood in Kandahar said it is the most serious fighting between government forces and the Taleban for two years.
Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf denied reports of Taleban deaths, saying only two fighters had been wounded.
Troops retreat
The attack comes days after UK Defence Secretary John Reid said 3,300 British troops would be sent to Helmand to help reconstruction efforts there.
The Deputy Governor, Haji Mullah Mir, said that he and the surrounded troops only managed to break through the Taleban after 200 more soldiers arrived to help them.
He said the fighting started after a local police commander travelled to Helmand's Sangeen district in pursuit of Taleban forces from the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, at about 0700 local time.
A US military spokesman in Kabul said US aircraft, including A-10 attack planes, had also joined in the fighting, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.
Mr Mir and his detachment came to the police commander's aid, but found themselves surrounded when the Taleban attacked from four different points.
He said troops retreated because they said civilians could have been killed if the fighting continued.
Earlier this month, an Afghan aid worker was killed in Helmand by suspected Taleban members.
Why did we not have air assets in there before these Taliban scum could escape? I really don't understand why we do not use more airpower and rely so heavily on the ground forces to take on enemy units in these kinds of engagements. The surviving Taliban should never have been allowed to escape without first being peppered from the air.
"A US military spokesman in Kabul said US aircraft, including A-10 attack planes, had also joined in the fighting, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports."
Oh nevermind, I just saw this. Answered my own question...and good.
With that said, we'd still take CAS whenever we can get it
You are right, one A-10 could easily chew up one thousand men. The way this is reported shows an obvious bend in the truth of what happened.
i think we're dealing with afghan math here. 200 could more probably be considered 20-40. which is roughly how many bodies they found. any time you have an afghan of any kind talking directly to the press you're gonna have problems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.