Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=32729
Suicide Bomber Attacks Coalition Patrol, Two Taliban Killed in Airstrike
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2007 – A suicide bomber attacked a coalition patrol southeast of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, today, and two Taliban fighters were killed in an airstrike, military officials reported.
One coalition soldier sustained minor injuries and returned to duty, and one coalition vehicle was damaged.
“The enemies of Afghanistan continue to fight against the peace and security that the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan works to maintain,” said Army Maj. Eric Zenk, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division spokesman.
Elsewhere, defense officials reported five Afghan Security Guards were wounded and another two were killed during a four-hour firefight with Taliban fighters near the Pakistan border in Paktika Province today.
Meanwhile, a coalition checkpoint in the village of Kakaheyl, Bermel District, received rocket propelled grenade and mortar fire from five Taliban fighters. Military officials reported coalition and Afghan Security Guard forces returned mortar fire and coordinated a coalition air strike on the enemy position.
Coalition aircraft dropped two precision-guided munitions on the enemy position, killing two Taliban fighters and wounding three.
The wounded Afghan Security Guards were evacuated to a nearby treatment facility and are listed in stable condition, according to military officials.
“Afghan Security Guards provide a vital service for all Afghan civilians,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force-82 spokesman. “They strive to bring safety and security to their area by protecting the populace from terrorist acts committed by Taliban fighters.”
Military officials reported there were no injuries to Afghan civilians.
(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force-82 news releases.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=afghanistan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=taliban
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=taleban
#
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25060_Taliban_Behead_Afghan_Journalist&only
Sunday, April 08, 2007
“Taliban Behead Afghan Journalist”
#
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070408/ts_afp/afghanistanmediaunrest
“Afghan taken hostage with Italian journalist beheaded: Taliban”
by Nasrat Shoaib 45 minutes ago
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants on Sunday beheaded an Afghan reporter kidnapped last month with an Italian journalist, after the government refused to negotiate his release, a Taliban spokesman said.
“We killed Ajmal (Naqshbandi) today at 1505 (1135 GMT) because the government did not respond to our demands,” said Shohaabuddin Atal, spokesman for top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah. “He was beheaded.”
“They (the government) did not contact us,” he told AFP.
Atal said the journalist was beheaded in Helmand’s Hazar Joft district and the Taliban leaders would decide whether to return his body to his relatives.
Afghan private news agency Pajhwok reported that a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence services, Saeed Ansari, had confirmed the execution. But there has been no independent verification.”
#
stepping back in time...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6081594.stm
Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 October 2006, 23:11 GMT 00:11 UK
“Travelling with the Taleban”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The BBC’s David Loyn has had exclusive access to Taleban forces mobilised against the British army in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.
There is no army on earth as mobile as the Taleban.
Taleban interview
I remember it as their secret weapon when I travelled with them in the mid-1990s, as they swept aside rival mujahideen to take most of the country.”
~
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “There is one other factor that increases Taleban morale.
Few have any education beyond years spent in the madrassas, the fundamentalist religious schools in Pakistan that have produced an endless supply of Taleban for more than a decade.
But all know the story of Afghanistan’s past victories over the British.
Engraved in their collective folk memory of Afghanistan’s warrior history are tales of the defeat of the British in 1842 and 1880 along with the defeat of the Russians in the 1980s.
The Taleban disappeared to the mountains after their defeat in 2001, and found it hard to recruit.
Five years on they are back, and regrouping against an old enemy.”