BAGRAM, Afghanistan, 19 September 2003 — The US-led forces have killed 11 Taleban fighters in Afghanistan in the past three days, while local officials said a group of rebels was surrounded by troops.
US military spokesman Maj. Ralph Marino told a news briefing yesterday that warplanes killed 11 Taleban fighters in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Zabul in the past 72 hours.
The aircraft were supporting US-led and Afghan ground forces engaged in “Operation Mountain Viper”, he said at the US military headquarters at Bagram just north of Kabul. “There were no reported coalition casualties or damage to equipment,” he said.
“Operation Mountain Viper” was launched in August in response to the presence of hundreds of Taleban guerrillas and their allies in Uruzgan and Zabul provinces, and over 100 rebels have been killed, mainly by air attacks by jets and helicopters.
Khalid Pushtun, an official in Kandahar, also said three guerrillas were killed and two injured commanders arrested on Wednesday in fighting in Shahwali Kot district, 75 km north of the provincial capital.
