Afghan Taliban say US ineffective
2010-10-04 23:07
Kabul - The Taliban in Afghanistan say a major military operation against them in their stronghold in the south has had little impact, Site monitoring group said on Monday.
The website of the Taliban interviewed its military commander for Kandahar province, Mullah Muhammad Issa Akhund, and posted the interview in English and Pashto, the US-based monitoring service said.
Site said the interview focused on Operation Dragon Strike, a joint Afghan-Nato campaign in Kandahar and its surrounding areas.
Site quoted Mullah Muhammad Issa as saying that the insurgents had felt not much impact from the operation, but have nevertheless turned to guerrilla tactics and are not moving around in large numbers.
Commander of the foreign forces, US General David Petraeus, told AFP last week around 7 000 troops were involved in Operation Dragon Strike, aimed at exerting "substantial additional pressure" on the insurgents.
