Why do I get the feeling this is what the Guardian reporter means by "local residents."
Posted on 06/20/2006 3:04:49 PM PDT by blam
U.S. Troops Fight Off Taliban Attack
Tuesday June 20, 2006 10:31 PM
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer
BAGHRAN VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. troops carrying out an anti-militant offensive fought off a Taliban attack on their mountaintop camp Tuesday, while a roadside blast in the same part of southern Afghanistan left a Romanian soldier dead.
The Americans used machine guns and mortars to repel the attackers in Helmand province's remote Baghran Valley. U.S. warplanes were called in to bomb a militant hideout and the American military said a few of the fighters were probably killed.
Local residents said an elderly couple was killed in the air raid.
The clash was the fiercest encountered by troops from the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., since they were air-dropped on a mountaintop over the weekend to block Taliban supply routes.
It followed a bombing raid by coalition helicopters on a Taliban camp in the same area late Monday that killed five militants and wounded eight, the Helmand provincial governor's spokesman said.
The American troops are among more than 10,000 U.S., British, Canadian and Afghan soldiers taking part in Operation Mountain Thrust, a campaign to try to kill or capture militants responsible for a surge in violence recently.
More than 600 people, mostly militants, have died in the past month as insurgents launched their deadliest campaign since the Taliban's 2001 ouster. That includes about 110 militants killed since the offensive began in earnest last week. At least 10 coalition soldiers have died since mid-May.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Local residents said an elderly couple was killed in the air raid.
Yes, yes, and children and pregnant women and puppies too.
Sounds like a very successful coalition operation, although you wouldn't know it from the headline.
The Guardian still stinks I see..
Why do I get the feeling this is what the Guardian reporter means by "local residents."
Bad news for the Guardian. Hoping we'll lose next time.
So that's what an Iraqi chicken farmer looks like, eh???
Yes, and he is taking a break for a "wedding" ceremony.
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