Afghanistan battle leaves 25 dead

[bigfootedfred]

Well so much for the Taliban being beaten...

A district governor is among 25 people
after a fierce battle between Afghan troops and Taleban fighters in Afghanistan, officials say.
Abdul Qoudoas, the district chief of Musa Qala,
was killed by Taleban fighters fleeing after a 12-hour battle in the neighbouring Sangeen district.
Helmand's deputy governor told the BBC that at one point, he and 100 soldiers were surrounded by 200 Taleban.
It is the most serious fighting between the two sides for two years.
Five police officers and some 20 Taleban fighters are said to have been killed in the fighting in Helmand province.

Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf denied reports of Taleban deaths, saying only two fighters had been wounded.
Mirwais Afghan of the BBC Pashto service, who has been to the area, says most of the villagers have fled.
"The actual fighting is over in Sangeen but a search operation is ongoing," Afghan interior ministry spokesman, Yousuf Stanizai, is quoted as saying by AFP.
"The area has been sealed off."
An estimated 600 Afghan government troops along with 200 policemen have been rushed to the area, the deputy governor of Helmand province, Haji Mullah Mir, told the BBC.
American soldiers are also present, he said.

The deputy governor said he and the surrounded troops only managed to break through the Taleban
after 200 more soldiers arrived to help them.

Mr Mir and his detachment came to the police commander's aid,
but found themselves surrounded when the Taleban attacked from four different points.

source

[Sétanta]

a few people are going to fight on until the death

that doesn't mean they have large support or any organization outside of the fact they call themselves taliban

[bigfootedfred]

a few people are going to fight on until the death

that doesn't mean they have large support or any organization outside of the fact they call themselves taliban

really?

the news dosent report much on afganisthan these days does it....

its just as bad as iraq.
worse in some ways.

A report by one of the BBC's men Nov2004

It is four years since the fall of the Taleban regime. The United States has spent billions of dollars on its operations in Afghanistan - but what does it have to show for it?
With no end in sight to the insurgency led by remnants of that regime and insecurity still holding back development in large parts of the country, it is a question that many more people are asking.
There has been significant political progress, with the election of President Hamid Karzai last year and a new parliament due to convene next month after September's vote.
But it is almost as if this is happening in a parallel universe, some say. There is no sign of it translating into peace.

As the year nears an end, bombings and shootings continue almost daily in the south and east.
Such incidents have claimed at least 1,400 lives in the past year - the highest toll since 2001.

A rise in suicide attacks, for which Afghan officials believe al-Qaeda is partly responsible, is causing particular concern.

A spate of suicide bombings have rocked the country
Since the spring, evidence has been mounting of a renewed drive by Osama Bin Laden's network to revive its influence here - particularly in eastern Afghanistan.
But it is only when the violence reaches Kabul - such as two recent suicide bombings - that the situation gets any significant attention from outside.

source

[Farnan]

the Governor was taking personal command of approxiamely a company of soldiers?

[GambleFish]

the Governor was taking personal command of approxiamely a company of soldiers?

I think he was being protected by them after the attack started... though I gotta read the article first.

[sephodwyrm]

Karzai has a hard job to keep Afghanistan under control it seems. Looks like the Talibans still maintain a significant military presence and threat to the legal government...

[{nF}remix]

The Talibans will never be stopped until they are rooted out of their base at the border of Pakistan...

[Sétanta]

The Talibans will never be stopped until they are rooted out of their base at the border of Pakistan...

which will need a cooperative pakistani government
the current regime is certainly cooperative on some points. but seems to be hiding stuff on others

[Mangalore]

which will need a cooperative pakistani government
the current regime is certainly cooperative on some points. but seems to be hiding stuff on others

The Taliban hid in Pashtun tribal areas. When Pakistani soldier appear there and make as much as breathe the Pashtun tribes start a war against the central government, they consider their land their land and it is of none's business to stroll around it against their will.

Pakistan already has been pressured into an counterterrorist sweep in the region by the US once. The result were several hundred dead Pakistani soldiers and a rusty sword. What did happen? Once Pakistani troops moved into the area the local tribes felt attacked and took up arms against the Pakistani military. Within weeks several provinces were in uproar with thousands of tribal militiamen attacking Pakistani convoys and military units. After several months of total chaos and mayem Musharraf decreed a general amnesty that freed any tribal warrior that fought the Pakistani of any charges and in exchange the tribal council gifted the Pakistani general in charge of the military operation an old sword.

That's how much Pakistan can do in those areas, while nominal under Pakistan sovereignity these are practically autonomn tribal areas without strict governmental control of Pakistan. To blame the Pakistanis of lack of support when this support did cost them dearly is a bit narrowminded. The simple truth is neither in Afghanistan nor in Pakistan one can catch Taliban when the tribes are not willing to give them to you.

Tribal tradition demands to protect guests with your life, additionally tribal networks are a world on its own, the only reason why certain clans supported the Taliban was because another clan supported the US and the two Afghan tribes had a bloood feud brewing. Any foreigner is just a source of power to the end of tribal politics. They do not care either way.

[Carach]

a heroic defence by the afghan troops.

shame about the losses, but obvious they killed a lot more (obviously taliban sources are not going to say they lost anything..evidence over words is more useful).

in afghanistan though, the terrorists and taliban do not have a significant hold on the country and are not so deep rooted in social networks, as they are in iraq.