Posted on 08/23/2002 9:29:51 AM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
Additional reporting By Hosbanullah Motawakil, IOL Afghanistan Correspondent
PESHAWAR, August 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – American troops, along with coalition forces and Afghan militias, launched a new military operation against remaining Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in southeastern Afghanistan. The campaign includes conventional as well as special forces.
U.S. special forces storming a suspected Al-Qaeda location
The operation, continuing for the past two days, has targeted Zurmat district, 27 kilometers (15 miles) west of the provincial capital Gardez, a Pakistan-based private news service said.
The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Afghan militias started a new operation in southeastern Afghanistan aiming to kill or capture fighters of Al-Qaeda and Taliban or those who are helping them, said Lieutenant Colonel Roger King, spokesman of the U.S. Army and the coalition forces in Bagram military base.
Afghani Defense Ministry Mohamed Fahim said that these operations are a part of the military treaty between Afghanistan and the American forces, adding that these operations are powerful, fast and continuous.
Hundreds of military vehicles, covered by military planes and helicopters, arrived in Paktia and the neighboring provinces of Khost, reported the Pakistani paper, Al-Mashriq, Thursday, August 22.
U.S. troops have started house-to-house searches to search the area for Taliban and Al-Qaeda suspects, it said.
The U.S. forces targeted Zurmat because the area is considered a base for pro-Taliban commander Maulawi Saifur Rehman Mansoor, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported Tuesday, August 20.
Mansoor fought against U.S. and allied forces during their operation to round up Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in the Shah-I-Kot valley in March this year, it said.
The paper added that the U.S. forces have moved large amount of weapons a ammunitions to a warehouse in Paktia they had earlier seized from Taliban.
Paktia ruler, Raz Mohamed Dilly, confirmed the arrival of the American troops to his province, adding that they arrested two men, while they failed to find a third one described as ‘important’.
The operation follows recent attacks on coalition forces by Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in the region, including rocket attacks on Khost airport.
Al-Mashriq also said that 19 soldiers from the coalition forces, including two Americans, were killed when the base of the U.S. forces in Gardez, in Paktia province, was hit by a remote controlled missile
Not to mention the plywood walls and F type silouhette full of bullet holes in the bottom left hand corner...
Kill would be better
LOL! Good one.
How do ya like that 4x8 sheet of Georgia-Pacific plywood?
As part of National Military Appreciation Month, the Department of Defense is gathering signatures on a brief message thanking the men and women of the U.S. military for defending our freedom. The compiled list of names will be sent out to our soldiers at the end of the month. So far, there are only about 547,000 names. It is really easy. The web page brings up a space to type your name, city and state.
Those evil lumber companies will sell their wares to anyone.
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