More Than 1500 Taliban Killed This Year

Yup, it would seem that the deadly Spring offensive that was lauded by the Taliban has backfired…

Around 55 Taleban killed in Afghan raids:governor
(AFP)
13 May 2007
Khaleej Times Online
KHOST, Afghanistan – Around 55 Taleban militants were killed in two separate battles with Afghan and international forces in eastern Afghanistan, a governor told AFP on Sunday.

Up to 40 were killed in a battle on Saturday in Paktika province’s Gayan district, close to the border with Pakistan, provincial governor Mohammad Akram Ikhpolwak said.

Fifteen others were killed in similar fight on Saturday in adjoining Barmal district, also on the border, he said.

The toll was the highest in the region since NATO-led and Afghan forces in January bombed groups of militants spotted crossing from Pakistan, killing 150 of them.

On Saturday in Barmal, “A big number of the Taleban came from Pakistan with the aim of attacking. We retaliated and killed up to 15 of them. The rest crossed back to Pakistan,” Ikhpolwak said.

“We killed around 40 Taleban in Gayan district the same day,” he said. “Foreign forces helped with air support,” he added.

Afghan and Western officials have heaped pressure on Pakistan to do more to stop militants from crossing into Afghanistan to take part in a growing insurgency aimed at toppling the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The rebel campaign was launched months after the Taleban regime was driven from power in a US-led operation after it refused to surrender Al Qaeda allies blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Last year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since then. About 4,000 people, mostly rebels, were killed in 2006 in insurgency-linked violence, according to officials.

More than 1,500 have been killed this year, according to an AFP tally based on reports.

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