NATO: Senior Taliban Commander Killed

(AP)  NATO reported Thursday that a senior Taliban commander has been killed and Afghan officials said an air strike left at least 10 insurgents dead and four civilians wounded.

The military alliance said that Bismullah Akhund, an insurgent leader in the southern province of Helmand, was killed on Saturday in Naw Zad district. It did not say how Akhund died.

NATO accused Akhund of supplying weapons and roadside bombs that have killed Afghan and foreign forces in the area - a hub of the insurgency wracking Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a defense ministry spokesman, said "tens of enemy" were killed during a joint NATO-Afghan army operation in the western province of Herat.

NATO confirmed it launched an air strike against insurgents that "was effective." It provided no other details.

There were varying accounts of the death toll.

The head of Herat's provincial council, Humayun Azizi, said 10 to 12 militants were killed and that there were also reports of civilian casualties from the air strikes.

NATO had no immediate comment on the operation.

Abdul Shukur, the Shindand police chief, said three houses were destroyed during the clashes. He said two local militant commanders and their two sons were among the dead.

Four wounded civilians - two children, one man and one woman - were brought to Herat hospital for treatment, Azizi said. Azizi said the raid targeted a militant cell.

He said they were also suspected in kidnappings and said they were holding at least 15 people hostage. It was not clear if any of those allegedly held were killed during the raid.

On Wednesday, the U.S.-led coalition said eight civilians died in air strikes called in after one of its patrols came under attack in neighboring Farah province.

The issue of civilian casualties has caused friction between the Afghan government and U.S. and NATO troops, and has undermined the standing of Western-backed President Hamid Karzai.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden is a craven homosexual and genocidalist. He will murder every Taliban and American Soldier like a deranged Hilter. The only thing that matters to Osama is that after a battle there is an extensive body count. He is mad for power, glorification, and massacre. Is there any end to his blood lust? The rank and file Arab must survive.

[samsel3]

There are no benefits for Americans in Afghanistan. Your tax dollars and cumulative borrowed debt to finance these operations only benefit the corporations who purchased the oil& gas rights in the Caspian Sea Basin, nothing more nothing less.

July 15, 2008 Bush morning news conference:" Everything''s going well so far in the Caspian Basin "....

And the extermination continues:...........


February 12, 1998 John J. Maresca vp of UNOCAL oil appeared before a House sub committee. The purpose of the meeting was to gain support for exploitation of oil & natural gas resources, for the rights purchased by BIG OIL in the Caspian Sea area.

In his testimony he stated, "The key question is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets ".

The exploitation option stated : "One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed by American companies because of U.S. sanctions (with Iran ) . The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which of course has it''s own unique challenges. " He continued saying, " the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments,lenders (world monitary fund & world bank ) ,and our company "......"

UNOCAL and other American companies are prepared to undertake the job ".

[checkthepast]

NewTagAgain
if you were really the majority then your cretin-in-chief would be in charge

[newtagagain]

Empires enter and die. The history of this small and poor country is dotted with such famous names as Darius the Great, Alexander, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Kanishka, Menander, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Timur, Mahmud Ghazni, Mahmud Ghori, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Nadir Shah, Neville Chamberlain, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush(?).

Posted by Nancy_Naive

Great post Nancy! Really puts it in perspective.

[newtagagain]

funny how most of you posting here,..seem not be at least content with any progress made by anti-terrorism...
It figures...we know who you are.

Posted by factsearcher

When the headline is bin Laden killed - Official - then we of the jaded majority will cheer. I have no doubt that we would have been long gone and victoriously from Afghanistan if the cretin-in-chief hadn''t sidelined into Iraq for no good reason.

[hergin-2009]

The militants and other supporter of them will be defeated by NATO and US forces. However, civilians always get hurt after an air strike or fight with insurgents. That''s why I did not understand the war since it has been started. Civilians must protect otherwise many of them will not support NATO or US forces at this war.Next U.S president will not be face with challenges unless take many nations around the world concerns into consideration.

[factsearcher]

funny how most of you posting here,..seem not be at least content with any progress made by anti-terrorism...
It figures...we know who you are.

[zerato-2009]

It seems every time we turn around, some country or our military are announcing the death of a taliban/al qaeda/terrorist leaders death. It seems now it is just another part of the war propaganda we keep hearing

[hungry1968]

NATO: Senior Taliban Commander Killed





What''s this? The 486th "Senior Taliban Commander" that''s been killed so far?

[petro49l]

Bismullah Akhund was sacrificed by Bin Laden. Many Taliban will die in the offensive because Osama needs a body count proving his authority. Hitler tried this tactic against the Russian Army. Bin Laden fools or forces rank and file Arabs to join Taliban. Their deaths verify Coalition aggression and hegemony.