Fierce fighting in Afghanistan

2003-08-29 16:37

Qalat, Afghanistan - Afghan soldiers were waging a fierce ground battle with entrenched Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan after a night of heavy US bombing that left many Taliban fighters dead, an Afghan intelligence chief said on Friday.

The US military said a special operations soldier died in an accidental fall during the fighting, one of the fiercest in recent months.

US warplane began bombing two suspected Taliban positions in the Chinaran and Larzab mountains of Dai Chupan district in southern Zabul province late on Thursday, provincial intelligence chief Khalil Hotak told The Associated Press.

The bombing ended at about 04:00, and some 500 local Afghan soldiers moved in on the Taliban fighters - who had taken up fortified positions in a deep mountain gorge and along a stream that runs through the area, Hotak said at a command centre set up in Qalat, about 70km south of the fighting.

Hotak described the area as a Taliban stronghold, from which the insurgents direct their operations into the neighbouring provinces of Kandahar, Ghazni and Uruzgan. It was impossible to independently verify his claim.

It was impossible to know the exact number of Taliban killed in the bombing and subsequent fighting, but Hotak said the number of fighters killed could be as high as 35.

The U.S. military said a special operations soldier died in a fall suffered during a "night combat assault" in Dai Chupan.

Accidental fall

"The injuries were sustained during an accidental fall and were not the result of hostile action," the military said in a statement from Bagram Air Base, north of the capital Kabul.

No casualties among the Afghan soldiers were reported.

"The fighting was intense and we have inflicted heavy damage on the Taliban," Hotak said. "Our forces counted 35 Taliban bodies."

As he spoke, Hotak received calls from commanders at the scene, barking back orders for the ongoing fighting.

"We get information when the Taliban change their positions. Then we give this information to our commanders," he said. Hotak said the largest suspected Taliban base was near a part of the mountain range called Hazar Buz, about 6km from the latest ground fighting.

The fighting was still going on by midmorning on Friday, Hotak said. He said his forces believe hundreds of Taliban have taken up positions in the area, with at least 15 hideouts. Hotak said he had no word yet on fresh casualties among the Afghan soldiers. Four Afghan soldiers were wounded in fighting on Thursday.

Zabul has seen heavy fighting this week. The province's governor, Hafizullah Hashami, said even before the most recent fighting that about 40 Taliban had been killed in an ongoing operation to clear out guerrillas hiding in the mountainous area.

Taliban leaders

Afghan officials say they believe at least two prominent Taliban commanders, Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Shafiq, were leading the fighting in the area.

Hotak also named Mullah Abdul Qahar as one of the commanders leading the Taliban fighters. A native of Zabul, Qahar was a senior Taliban commander in the province before the militia was ousted in late 2001 by a US-led coalition, according to Hotak.

Haji Granai, an Afghan military commander, told AP that at least two US bombers and two helicopters helped in the operation, and Hotak said 20 American troops and 12 military vehicles were on the ground to aid the Afghan forces.

Two fighters arrested in the area two days ago told investigators they were recruited by the Taliban and fighters loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. They said they received 38 000 Pakistani rupees (US$650) from the two groups, Hotak said.

A former prime minister who has since fallen into disfavor, Hekmatyar has so far eluded US efforts to arrest or kill him. The renegade warlord has issued calls for a jihad, or holy war, against foreign troops in Afghanistan.

In other fighting, a group of suspected Taliban fighters late on Thursday attacked an Afghan checkpoint in Spinboldak, 200km southwest of the Zabul province fighting.

Three Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack, Fazluddin Agha, district police chief of Spinboldak, told AP. He said two Taliban fighters were wounded in the exchange of fire.

- AP