U.S. Operations Kill 19 Afghan Militants

Series Of Missions Target Al Qaeda Leader, Bomb-Making Cell

(AP)  A series of operations by U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan targeted an al Qaeda leader and a bomb-making cell, killing 19 militants, the coalition said.

Afghan police meanwhile said Saturday they had investigated unconfirmed reports that civilians may have been killed and found that only militants died.

The operations took place Friday in Nangarhar and Khost provinces, volatile regions along the Pakistan border.

In the deadliest operation, the coalition said it killed 10 militants during a strike against a bomb-making cell under the command of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a fierce militant leader believed to operate out of Pakistan.

Wazir Pacha, the spokesman for Khost's provincial police chief, said a delegation of police had been sent to investigate whether civilians had been killed and had found no such evidence.

The governor of Khost, Arsallah Jamal, said it was unlikely that civilians would have been in the region where the operation took place.

Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthews, a U.S. military spokesman, said his office had not received any reports of civilian injuries or deaths.

"We go well out of our way to plan those operations and we do whatever we can to make sure we don't harm any civilians," he said.

Civilian deaths have long been a problem in Afghanistan for U.S. and NATO forces, and President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly pleaded with international troops to avoid such killings, saying they undermine support for the government and turn Afghans against the U.S. and NATO.

In a separate operation in Nangarhar, the U.S.-led coalition said it targeted a known al Qaeda leader believed to have helped move foreign fighters and weapons into Kunar province. The coalition said militants engaged the force with gunfire. Coalition troops returned fire and killed five militants, including an armed female, it said.

Afghanistan is suffering through one of the most violent years since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban's hard-line Islamist regime for sheltering al Qaeda.

More than 5,300 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden trafficks narcotics to Junkies for a staggeringly high profit. Al Qada specializes in making tar heroin, methamphetamine, PCP, LSD, potent mushrooms, and strong hashish. A.Q. also pushes smut depicting naked children being forcibly, sexually assaulted. Osama uses the Internet for heavy investment of his money in U.S. corporations to day trade shares. He can literally fund domestic terror groups all over the world.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden wants the Pakistani Army to launch a thermo-nuclear warhead at a Coalition target in Afghanistan. Coalition Forces impede his drug traffick through the country. Osama funds domestic terror groups in America over the Internet. Felons purchase vehicles, bombs, rifles, sidearms, and safe houses with Al Qada money.

[ranger101st2]

The hadji''s hold meetings, they stay in these "safe houses" that have women and children in them. Thats how civilians get killed. An unmanned drone tracks them and a missle gets launched by a guy in California. Now, when a compound gets raided, or a house, SF trigger pullers are among the worlds best. We DO NOT shoot women and kids. Those cowardly dogs hide behind thier women and use thier kids as shields. So, don''t blame US Soldiers for the T-ban''s/Aq cowardly tactics.

[svoboda6]

Prayer is really the only answer to all of our problems, we criticize and blame one another, instead of solving problems.The biased news media reports the war to support their political goals. The tv and movie industry has glorified murder, violence, ***,for the last 30 years. this is what our young people are exposed to, monkey see, monkey do. Ths people who are responsible for taking the right to carry arms to defend ourselves against crime, should be made to walk the streets of any city at night, large or small. God Bless America