ZHARI, Afghanistan (AP) - NATO forces have recaptured territory in southern Afghanistan from Taliban insurgents during an 11-day operation that has killed at least 510 suspected militants, the alliance said Tuesday.
In southern Kandahar province, thousands of NATO and Afghan forces, backed by intense U.S. airstrikes, have killed at least 510 suspected Taliban holdouts, the alliance said. The campaign, called Operation Medusa, began Sept. 2. NATO said Tuesday its forces have regained control of 65 percent of "contested areas" in Kandahar's neighboring Zhari and Panjwayi districts, an area of roughly 50 square miles.
Purported Taliban spokesmen reject the death tolls as exaggerated.
Journalists have been unable to travel freely in the region because of the campaign.
In Kabul, the capital, a top American general said violence has increased in the south because of operations mounted by Afghan and foreign forces in "Taliban sanctuaries." "Five years ago, the Afghan national army was zero," Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, who heads the training of Afghan soldiers and police, told CNN. "We now have sufficient forces, that's why there is some tough fighting down in Kandahar." |