30 Taliban Killed In Clash With NATO

NATO and Afghan Troops In 5-Hour Battle With Militants In Southern Afghanistan

(AP)  NATO-led and Afghan troops backed by air power clashed with suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, leaving up to 30 militants dead and 15 wounded, a provincial police chief said Wednesday.

NATO and Afghan troops surrounded a compound believed to be a Taliban base in Kajaki district, Helmand province, and fought a five-hour battle Tuesday with the militants inside, including air strikes, said Helmand police chief Ghulam Nabi Mulakhel.

NATO confirmed the clash but gave no militant casualty figures. The toll could not be confirmed independently because of the remote location of the battlefield.

There were no casualties among NATO or Afghan troops, officials said.

Police recovered some bodies of militants, as well as assault rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Mulakhel said.

The fighting came during a relative lull in the violence that has assailed Afghanistan in the past year, but as the country braces for renewed fighting in the spring.

Last year, the Taliban launched a record number of attacks, and some 4,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and U.S.-led coalition officials.

A NATO spokesman said Wednesday that Taliban militants were expected to step up their attacks soon, but did not have the capability to launch a "spring offensive."

"We do not believe that there will be a spring offensive by the Taliban," NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Richard Nugee said. "There will be an upward surge in violence as the weather gets better ... I don't think it will amount to an offensive. An offensive is a very symbolic phrase, it means a huge upsurge in a very short amount of time. We just don't think that will happen."

"We believe that they have been degraded and are starting to appear in less good condition than they started last year," Nugee added.

But his comments came just two days after Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the incoming commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said he expects Taliban militants to launch more suicide attacks this year than in 2006, when they launched 139 — a record number.

Rodriguez, speaking Monday, added that military leaders expect an increase in all kinds of attacks as the weather gets warmer. The onset of spring melts snows on mountain passes used by insurgents and usually heralds more attacks in the south and east of the country.

In other violence, a rocket fired from Pakistan hit a police border post in eastern Paktika province on Wednesday, killing three police and wounding two, said Ghami Mohammadi, the governor's spokesman. Afghan and U.S. officials say rockets are frequently fired from Pakistan into Afghanistan, although Pakistan says it does all it can to police the border.

In Nangarhar province, a suicide bomber blew himself up close to the border with Pakistan, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. The target of the attack wasn't known. No one else was hurt.

In the south, Afghanistan's intelligence service said it arrested four people crossing into Kandahar province from Pakistan about two weeks ago. The group had a suicide vest and four remote-controlled bombs in their vehicle, officials said Wednesday.

Using information provided by the group, officials later arrested two alleged would-be suicide bombers in a madrassa in Arghandab district of Kandahar. The two men were Pakistani, the intelligence service said.

[legendary240]

Why no posts yet? Because it was a victorious battle, that's why! Nothing for the liberal man to crow about. Go NATO, even though I don't like our US servicemen serving under a foreign general or admiral anymore than a Canadian or French would, I support NATO in their ending the lives of any muslim militant anywhere on the planet. Salute!

[sharncedar]

Nice round number, 30. Good to know that we're winning this war. So far we've killed some 300 million Taliban - though i sometimes get confused because there were only 10 million people in afganistan. Maybe its those foreign fighters? Or is we diggin' em up and killin' em again?

[bluestardad]

Is that American NATO or some other countries NATO that engaged these Taliban? It seems like we are trying to say the organization of NATO is providing outlying troops but they are not doing anything besides guarding the cities. American soldiers do the outside dirty work!

[sharncedar]

I hope they wuz wearin theys Taliban uniforms. Elsein we woont knows fer sher they wuz Taliban. But I spoze the Pentagon knows that, theys got cameras and stuff that sees right through people's hearts, knows if theyze Democracy-lovin people or sinners. Then theyze carpet-bombs them sinners, hoooooooraaay!

[darkfyreaol]

All in all, the 5-hour battle where the 'Taliban' were beaten back amounts to nothing in the effect of the war against terror. 30 people slain, each of which will be replaced by two more.

That's the problem with guerilla warfare. You kill one "terrorist", and the civil population rises up in arms in protest of the violence. And now you're dealing with a hundred angry civilians, who are now lumped into the category of 'insurgents'.

It's a neverending cycle. That was the trouble with Vietnam - You can't tell friendly from an enemy.