Posted on 03/22/2006 5:15:59 PM PST by mdittmar
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan government forces killed 16 Taliban insurgents after surrounding them in mountains near the border with Pakistan, an Afghan army officer said on Wednesday.
Afghanistan has seen a surge in bomb and other attacks by Taliban insurgents and their militant allies in recent months. The Taliban have vowed to launch a spring offensive against foreign forces and the country's Western-backed government.
Afghan forces attacked the Taliban near the southern border town of Spin Boldak late on Tuesday after getting intelligence reports the insurgents were preparing attacks, said an army commander, General Abdul Raziq.
"We started an operation against them last night by surrounding them. The fighting went on for several hours. When we checked the place this morning we found 16 bodies," Raziq said.
Only one Afghan soldier was wounded in the battle, 8 km (5 miles) east of Spin Boldak, he said.
Among the dead were two men who Raziq identified as Taliban commanders -- Mullah Atta Jan and Shish Noorzai -- who he said had been organising ambushes and suicide bomb attacks.
The Taliban were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001 for refusing to give up Osama bin Laden and have been fighting since then to expel foreign forces.
The recent surge in violence has come as Afghanistan's NATO allies, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, are sending thousands more troops to the Afghan south, where the insurgency is most intense.
Commanders of the U.S. military, which is hoping to cut its troops strength in Afghanistan by several thousand to about 16,000, have said they expect an increase in violence in coming weeks.
No mention of US help. We're winning that war, bigtime.
They should institute a bounty on Taliban. Two ears for $5. That would end this war tomorrow.
Just 5 years ago the taliban ruled Afghanistan,now they are being hunted and killed by the new Afghanistan Army.
Why we fight (((.)))
Afghan fighters have always been feared. Now organized, trained, and equipped by the US Army, they probably kick some butt.
Anyone seen Rambo III?
Great news.
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