Afghan battle leaves rebels dead
KABUL, Afghanistan – American troops and Afghan police killed about 40 rebels and captured six during a battle in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said today, the latest in a string of clashes in an insurgent hotbed near the Pakistani border.
Six soldiers and five policemen were reported wounded in several hours of fighting Tuesday, the same day that the new American commander of the military coalition in Afghanistan vowed a relentless pursuit of Taliban-led guerrillas.
The battle, the deadliest in nearly seven months, occurred in the Dehchopan district of Zabul province, about 205 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, a military statement said. It said U.S. helicopters and warplanes joined the fight against an insurgent band estimated at around 25 fighters.
The military on Wednesday said about 20 militants were killed but raised that number to 40 today.
Zabul is in Afghan territory along the border with Pakistan where Taliban loyalists have stepped up their insurgency against the government of U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai after a winter lull. Bombings and gunbattles have killed dozens of rebels and Afghan police and soldiers as well as several civilians, a U.S. soldier and a Romanian soldier.
The U.S. statement said the American soldiers wounded Tuesday were in stable condition, and four would be flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. The other two returned to duty.
The military said the firefight began when gunmen attacked U.S. soldiers and Afghan police who were investigating a beating of an Afghan man.
The police and soldiers pinned down the guerrillas with small-arms fire and support from warplanes and helicopters, the statement said. “Initial reports indicate approximately 20 insurgents were killed and one wounded,” it said. Six rebels were “detained and questioned.”
Afghan officials gave a different version. They said the battle began when Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint manned by Afghan police, who called in reinforcements.
A spokesman for the provincial government, Ali Khail, said 19 guerrillas were killed and knew of only two policemen injured in the battle, which he said happened in the same area where a large cache of weapons was discovered Monday.
The U.S. military gave no details on the identity or affiliation of the insurgents, but the statement said a local leader had been detained after villagers “reported him as a Taliban member.”
It was the deadliest clash reported since election day on Oct. 9, when the governor of Uruzgan, another restive province adjoining Zabul, said about 25 insurgents and one civilian died in a bombardment by U.S. warplanes. The U.S. military confirmed the airstrike but not the casualties.
Tuesday’s battle coincided with the installation of a new American commander for the 18,000-soldier coalition force.
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said he would maintain the approach of bolstering Afghanistan’s government while pursuing militants and their leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
“We will continue to prosecute the war against terror in partnership with the Islamic government of Afghanistan, and will be relentless as we move forward,” Eikenberry said in his inaugural speech Tuesday.
That strategy has seen U.S. troops give development aid to communities that provide intelligence on militant activities, while also increasing patrols in trouble spots like Dehchopan.
More than 100 suspected Taliban fighters were killed in the area during operations led by U.S. Marines last May and June, a sweep that American commanders said helped make Afghanistan safe for landmark presidential elections held in October.