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'Canadians die' in Afghan clash
A Nato-led operation near Kandahar in south Afghanistan has left three Canadian soldiers and dozens of insurgents dead, Afghan officials say.
About 2,000 Nato and Afghan soldiers are involved in Operation Medusa. Nato confirms there are coalition casualties but has given no further details.
The operation is the same one that saw a UK reconnaissance plane crash, killing all 14 people on board.
Afghanistan is witnessing its bloodiest period since the Taleban fell in 2001.
Southern clashes
Operation Medusa is the biggest military operation in southern Afghanistan since the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) took over the area from a US-led coalition at the end of July.
It is concentrated on the Panjwayi area, about 35km (20 miles) west of Kandahar city, which has seen months of fighting.
An Afghan defence ministry spokesman, Zahir Azimi, said three Canadian soldiers had been killed and six wounded, but there is no confirmation from Isaf or Canadian authorities.
Mr Azimi said coalition forces had launched 40 artillery and air strikes.
Nato spokesman Maj Scott Lundy said the coalition forces had gained ground and disrupted the Taleban command and control.
The operation had "special emphasis on driving out the insurgents so Afghans in Panjwayi district can return to their homes and orchards that sustained their livelihoods," a coalition spokesman said.
In the crash of the Nimrod MR2 aircraft, British authorities said they believed a technical fault was to blame.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5309780.stm
The operation is the same one that saw a UK reconnaissance plane crash, killing all 14 people on board.
Afghanistan is witnessing its bloodiest period since the Taleban fell in 2001.
Southern clashes
Operation Medusa is the biggest military operation in southern Afghanistan since the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) took over the area from a US-led coalition at the end of July.
It is concentrated on the Panjwayi area, about 35km (20 miles) west of Kandahar city, which has seen months of fighting.
An Afghan defence ministry spokesman, Zahir Azimi, said three Canadian soldiers had been killed and six wounded, but there is no confirmation from Isaf or Canadian authorities.
Mr Azimi said coalition forces had launched 40 artillery and air strikes.
Nato spokesman Maj Scott Lundy said the coalition forces had gained ground and disrupted the Taleban command and control.
The operation had "special emphasis on driving out the insurgents so Afghans in Panjwayi district can return to their homes and orchards that sustained their livelihoods," a coalition spokesman said.
In the crash of the Nimrod MR2 aircraft, British authorities said they believed a technical fault was to blame.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5309780.stm
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Afghan military officials said 89 Taliban had died during two days of fighting after Operation Medusa was launched in a Taliban stronghold in southern Kandahar province on Saturday.
The operation, involving about 2,000 Afghan and Nato personnel, is the biggest offensive since troops from Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took command of the south on July 31, and is aimed at driving out insurgents in Panjwayi district.
"At the end of the first day's fighting, ISAF troops report that dozens of insurgents have been killed and many others have been wounded," the force said in a statement.
Afghan and ISAF troops gained ground and a "significant number of suspected insurgents were detained", it said.
General Aziz Wardak, Kandahar province police chief, confirmed that a "number of suspected" Taliban had been arrested.
Afghan officials said three Canadian troops were also killed.
Nato spokesman Scott Lundy confirmed Nato forces had also suffered casualties, including some fatalities, but did not give specific details.
Military officials have long said that rebels are massing in Panjwayi, about 35km (20 miles) west of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. There has been fierce fighting in Panjwayi this year.
The Taliban emerged from the area as an armed force in the early 1990s, first capturing Kandahar and then sweeping to power in 1996 before being ousted five years later for sheltering Al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9A112E52-17DF-4AC8-8EB7-0DF637C7B9A8.htm