Nato-led forces have retaken the town of Sangin in southern Afghanistan from the Taliban after two days of fighting.
More than 1,000 troops took part in the operation, supported by air strikes on suspected Taliban positions in the town in Helmand province.
"Military troops have successfully engaged several Taliban extremist strongholds and discovered a number of large weapon caches," Nato's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement late on Friday.
The operation to retake Sangin started late on Wednesday and was part of Nato's largest ever offensive in Afghanistan, Operation Achilles.
Nato commanders are trying to push the Taliban out of the northern tip of Helmand to allow multimillion-dollar repair work to go ahead on a dam in the Kajaki district which would supply the country's south with electricity.
'Information war'
"Six weeks ago Al Jazeera filmed in this same area. It was clear then it was entirely under Taliban control," James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said.
"There is an information war as well as a military battle going on. Nato now say they have retaken Sangin but before they never admitted it had been held by the Taliban."
A local Taliban commander has told Al Jazeera that the group plans to recapture the town from Nato and Afghan forces within days.
Haji Akhtar Mohammad, a Sangin resident, told The Associated Press news agency that Nato and Afghan troops were in control of the centre of Sangin on Saturday and the Taliban appeared to be moving towards the neighbouring district of Musa Qala.
About 4,500 Nato and 1,000 Afghan troops are in and around Helmand province as part of Operation Achilles.
There have been over 220 "tactical engagements" since the start of the operation and dozens of fighters have been killed or captured, according to Nato officials in Kabul.
Taliban meetings
On Friday, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, admitted meeting members of the Taliban movement in an attempt to to bring reconciliation to the country.
He said it was unclear if the attacker was targeting parliament but added that the device may have exploded prematurely.
Via Al Jazeera.
Nato commanders are trying to push the Taliban out of the northern tip of Helmand to allow multimillion-dollar repair work to go ahead on a dam in the Kajaki district which would supply the country's south with electricity.
'Information war'
"Six weeks ago Al Jazeera filmed in this same area. It was clear then it was entirely under Taliban control," James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said.
"There is an information war as well as a military battle going on. Nato now say they have retaken Sangin but before they never admitted it had been held by the Taliban."
A local Taliban commander has told Al Jazeera that the group plans to recapture the town from Nato and Afghan forces within days.
Haji Akhtar Mohammad, a Sangin resident, told The Associated Press news agency that Nato and Afghan troops were in control of the centre of Sangin on Saturday and the Taliban appeared to be moving towards the neighbouring district of Musa Qala.
About 4,500 Nato and 1,000 Afghan troops are in and around Helmand province as part of Operation Achilles.
There have been over 220 "tactical engagements" since the start of the operation and dozens of fighters have been killed or captured, according to Nato officials in Kabul.
Taliban meetings
On Friday, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, admitted meeting members of the Taliban movement in an attempt to to bring reconciliation to the country.
Speaking in Kabul, he said Taliban representatives had been regularly meeting government bodies, adding: "I've had some Taliban coming to speak to me as well, so this process has been there for a long time."
On the same day, elsewhere in the Afghan capital, a suicide bomber struck a few hundred metres from the parliament building, killing at least five people including a policeman.
"It was a suicide bombing ... The bomber was driving a yellow and white taxi," General Alishah Paktiawal, the city's criminal investigation police chief, said.
On the same day, elsewhere in the Afghan capital, a suicide bomber struck a few hundred metres from the parliament building, killing at least five people including a policeman.
"It was a suicide bombing ... The bomber was driving a yellow and white taxi," General Alishah Paktiawal, the city's criminal investigation police chief, said.
He said it was unclear if the attacker was targeting parliament but added that the device may have exploded prematurely.
Via Al Jazeera.
3 comments:
Our troops should be htere,in Afghanistan,taking care of the real purpetrayors of 9/11(actual terrorists) instead of diddling-ass around in Iraq.
That said,and not to go OT,but I've had some feelings since the Afghan invasion,about the post-invasion planning.
I think the resurgence of the Taliban is just another indication of the inability of Bushco to think strategically long-term. The poppy fields are back in full production(meaning more money for the criminal element there:terrorists) and it should have been recognised that without soem sort of economic-stabilising planning for the Afghan people that this would be a likely happening.
And I can't blame the Afghani peeps for doing it. They have to make a living,and the opportunity for lifting themselves out of poverty by drug production is just too convenient. The infostructure,as they say,was already there.
IMO,we're reaping what we've sewn there. I feel we've missed those 'hearts and minds(and bellies)' in Afghanistan as badly as we missed them in Iraq.
LOL
That should be "INFRAstructure",not 'info'.
I've had some feelings since the Afghan invasion,about the post-invasion planning.
No kidding. Remember, the people who were in control when we went into Afghanistan were the same brilliant strategists who screwed up 'Iraq. I've been upset with their competence ever since late 2002 when I discovered that we were (or had been) dropping food aid in containers nearly identical to the unexploded bombs that now littered the landscape.
However, it does look like they're finally getting their act together. Check out "Operation Achilles" on the editorials page.
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