Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Over dozen Afghan militants killed in NATO air strike

KABUL: NATO forces say an air strike in eastern Afghanistan has killed more than a dozen insurgents near the Pakistani border.

The military coalition said Wednesday that a NATO patrol saw a group of individuals near the border on Tuesday and identified them as insurgents.

The soldiers called in air support and precision-guided munitions were dropped on the location, killing more than a dozen insurgents. NATO did not disclose the specific location of the air strike.

An Afghan and NATO offensive against a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan has "significantly dislocated" the insurgents' leadership in the area, a NATO commander said.

Major General Nick Carter, the British commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan and international troops had had to deal with home-made bombs, minefields and some determined opposition during the assault on Marjah, one of the biggest against the Taliban since the war began in 2001.

"We have had some significant resistance from isolated groups of fighters foreign fighters have been identified there and of course the area was well prepared for defence and it's taken a while to winkle some of the insurgents out," he told reporters in London by video link from Afghanistan.

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