Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
November 1, 2007
Pg. 12
By Taimoor Shah
ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan, Oct. 31 — Afghan and NATO forces fought hundreds of Taliban fighters 15 miles outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan for a second day on Wednesday, according to Afghan and Western officials. A local police commander said 250 Taliban fighters had been surrounded and 50 of them killed just north of the city, but Western military officials said they could not confirm the claims.
Canadian military officials said that Afghan and NATO troops gained some ground on Wednesday and that the Taliban force appeared far smaller than the one that massed west of the city roughly a year ago.
Last September, an estimated 500 Taliban fighters were killed and 136 captured in the Panjwai and Zhare districts in the largest single battle in Afghanistan since 2002.
“They’re smaller engagements spread over the area,” said Lt. Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a Canadian military spokesman. “Smaller engagements against fairly small numbers of insurgents.”
But the current front line, along the banks of the Arghandab River, is roughly five miles closer to the city than last year’s. Fleeing villagers have expressed anger at Taliban and NATO forces, saying firing by both groups endangered Afghan civilians.
“We can’t trust either side,” said Ismatullah, a 40-year-old farmer who uses only one name. “That is why we are fleeing.”
According to Afghan officials, no civilian deaths were reported in two days of fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces, made up of Canadian and American troops.
A Western military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that NATO and Afghan forces were planning to carry out a slow and methodical sweep of the area.
David Rohde contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan.
November 1, 2007
Pg. 12
By Taimoor Shah
ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan, Oct. 31 — Afghan and NATO forces fought hundreds of Taliban fighters 15 miles outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan for a second day on Wednesday, according to Afghan and Western officials. A local police commander said 250 Taliban fighters had been surrounded and 50 of them killed just north of the city, but Western military officials said they could not confirm the claims.
Canadian military officials said that Afghan and NATO troops gained some ground on Wednesday and that the Taliban force appeared far smaller than the one that massed west of the city roughly a year ago.
Last September, an estimated 500 Taliban fighters were killed and 136 captured in the Panjwai and Zhare districts in the largest single battle in Afghanistan since 2002.
“They’re smaller engagements spread over the area,” said Lt. Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a Canadian military spokesman. “Smaller engagements against fairly small numbers of insurgents.”
But the current front line, along the banks of the Arghandab River, is roughly five miles closer to the city than last year’s. Fleeing villagers have expressed anger at Taliban and NATO forces, saying firing by both groups endangered Afghan civilians.
“We can’t trust either side,” said Ismatullah, a 40-year-old farmer who uses only one name. “That is why we are fleeing.”
According to Afghan officials, no civilian deaths were reported in two days of fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces, made up of Canadian and American troops.
A Western military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that NATO and Afghan forces were planning to carry out a slow and methodical sweep of the area.
David Rohde contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan.