Taliban, dead, dead, dead and DEAD
July 26, 2006
600 Taliban killed in bloodiest month for 5 years
More than 600 suspected Taliban fighters have been killed over the past month, the bloodiest period in southern Afghanistan since their regime was overthrown five years ago, US officials said yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1830229,00.html
http://tinyurl.com/2nvlmb
PASHMUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 3, 2006 Warplanes and artillery pounded Taliban fighters hiding in orchards Sunday during a big Afghan-NATO offensive that the alliance said killed more than 200 militants in its first two days. Four Canadian soldiers also were killed.
If the estimate is confirmed, the battle would be one of the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/03/terror/main1962990.shtml
http://tinyurl.com/y66zzf
The British-led operation, which includes Afghan and Estonian infantry and US special forces, also captured six other Taliban fighters and killed 30, said Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Carver,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2369565.ece
http://tinyurl.com/23rd3u
Updated: 9:11 a.m. ET Sept 1, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan police and foreign forces killed around 60 suspected Taliban fighters, many in the region where the insurgents recently released a group of South Korean church workers
Police attacked a group of Taliban late Friday who were planning to strike security forces in the central Afghan province of Ghazni, killing 18 and arresting six others, said provincial police Gen. Ali Shah Ahmadai.
southern Helmand province on Friday, a combined police and U.S.-led coalition patrol came under attack with mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire. In the fight that ensued, "almost two dozen" insurgents were killed, the coalition said in a statement Saturday.
U.S.-led troops and Afghan security forces also raided compounds late Friday in three villages in the remote Pitigal Valley border region, where intelligence showed that top militant leaders take refuge as they travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan. More than 20 insurgents were killed and 11 others were detained, while officers also discovered a bomb-making factory, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20542311/
http://tinyurl.com/yvykcd
Colition forces are experiencing an unparalleled success it tracking, finding and killing Taliban.
Unusual intel successes.
Malawa valley classified project.
Our Paradigm Intel indicates the Taliban has been penetrated at the highest levels.
This mop up started in July.
map current deployment
http://www.nato.int/issues/afghanistan/graphics/e040628a.jpg
Nangarhar province. Map
UPDATE:
From David Tate, at "the Fourth Rail"
The US troops, augmented by the Afghan National Army and close air support, are targeting "hundreds of foreign fighters" who are well-entrenched.
The showdown has been brewing since February when fragmented militant groups reorganized under the name "Tora Bora Mahaz (Front)." The group is led by Unus Khan, eldest son of the famous mujahadeen leader from the Soviet-occupation, Anvarul Hak Mujahid. The Taliban forces, backed by al Qaeda, began to reoccupy the extensive underground complex that saw heavy fighting during the opening months of the war. By late May, the Taliban had declared the opening of the "Tora Bora front."
The group's first declared attack on Coalition forces came in March when a Marine Special Forces unit was targeted by a complex ambush outside of Jalalabad. The Marines returned fire, killing up to a dozen civilians. The incident precipitated the newly commissioned unit's early departure from the country.
Countering the move, in preparation for the current operation, paratroopers and engineers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team began work on Forward Operating Base Lonestar in Par Wa Agam district in early July. The new FOB, 20 kilometers from the border, overlooks the foothills of the Tora Bora Mountains, where Taliban and al Qaeda operatives are known to cross over from Pakistan.
Nangarhar province is one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan. According to data compiled by Vigilant Strategic Services Afghanistan, there were 620 security incidents reported in the province from January 1 through August 12, making Nangarhar second only to Kandahar, with 774 security incidents. Kunar finished third with 613 security incidents over the same time period.
Nangarhar borders Kunar province to the north, which has been the scene of major battles between the Taliban and US and Afghan forces over the past year. Nangarhar also borders the Pakistani tribal districts of Kurram and Khyber to the south, and Bajaur to the east. The TNSM openly run Bajaur province after the Pakistani government negotiated a peace deal in March, while the Taliban maintain a strong influence in Kurram and Khyber..
http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/08/return_to_tora_bora.php
http://tinyurl.com/3652hl
Gerald