30 killed in Nato's anti-Taliban raid
Warplanes from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) bombed a compound serving as a Taliban command post in the Panjwayi district of the volatile Kandahar province on Wednesday.
The alliance at the time did not provide information on casualties, saying that toll was being assessed.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "According to intelligence reports, we've killed 30 Taliban including some of their commanders," Kandahar governor Asadullah Khalid told a news conference on Sunday, four days after the raid.
He said Taliban regional commanders Mullah Abdul Wali and Mullah Sher Jan, and low-ranking rebel commander Mullah Abdul Nafi, were among those killed in the air raid.
Hundreds of Isaf troops backed by Afghan security forces this week launched a major operation in Panjwayi, a known Taliban stronghold where in mid-September troops fought a major battle with insurgents.
More than 1,000 militants were killed in the earlier operation named "Medusa".
Isaf on Friday dropped leaflets on insurgent positions warning them to leave the area before troops force them to quit.
The governor, citing security reasons, did not provide details on the latest operation, named "Baaz Tsuka".
Despite being forced out from power five years ago, remnants of the Taliban are still active and have been carrying out fierce attacks.
Some 4,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, have died in Taliban-led violence this year, the bloodiest since the toppling of their regime in late 2001.
Meanwhile, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced yesterday that France would withdraw hundreds of its special forces from Afghanistan within the next few weeks.
"We'll pull our special forces out of Afghanistan in the coming weeks," Alliot-Marie told reporters during her visit to the Afghan capital Kabul.
She was referring to some 200 French special forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, aimed at hunting down Taliban fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
Comments