The Hindu : '50 Taliban men killed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

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'50 Taliban men killed'

KABUL Aug. 25. Afghan troops backed by U.S.-led forces killed up to 50 suspected Taliban fighters today in ground and air raids in the violence-wracked southeastern Afghanistan, a local official said.

``In this operation 40 to 50 Taliban were killed and their bodies are still laying on the ground,'' a spokesman for the Zabul provincial government, Ahmadullah Watan Dost, told AFP by satellite telephone.

Some 1,000 Afghan soldiers supported by dozens of U.S.-led coalition troops were on the first day of an anti-extremist operation in Zabul's Daychopan district, 300 km southwest of Kabul. The operation was executed against suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda bases in Daychopan's Dozi mountains, Mr. Watan Dost said. The bases were ``smashed to dust'' by coalition bombing, he said, adding that there were no reported Afghan or coalition casualties. ``In this operation coalition forces helped up with their close air support and they bombed the Taliban bases and smashed them to dust,'' he said.

Five suspected Taliban fighters were also arrested. The U.S. military was not available for comment. It was impossible to independently verify details in the remote area. The operation was launched after at least 14 people were killed in fighting over the weekend in Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

— AFP

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