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  • AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan says 69 Taliban killed in attacks in southern province of Helmand

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AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan says 69 Taliban killed in attacks in southern province of Helmand

At least 69 Taliban rebels were killed in fighting with Afghan forces in the south of the country, an Afghan defence spokesman says, a day after troops launched an offensive against the fighters. At least 69 Taliban rebels were killed in fighting with Afghan forces in the south of the country, a defence spokesman said on Friday (March 23), a day after troops launched an offensive against the fighters. General Zahir Azimi, spokesman for Afghan Defence ministry, said: "Yesterday at around 5:00 a.m. the operation started from three different locations, from Lashkar Gah towards Girishk, from Nad Ali towards Girishk, and from Girishk towards Lashkar Gah. Even though our forces did not have enough equipment like tanks and armed vehicles but with the weapons that they had in hand like SPG 9, 82 mm artillery, RPG 7, machine guns, AK-47 etc, they could inflict heavy losses on the enemy in several hours of fighting." Azimi said NATO troops were not involved in the fighting and added that the guerrilla death toll had risen to 69. "As a result, 69 enemy fighters were killed. Of the 69, 49 dead bodies remain in the battlefield and residents have seen Taliban fighters taking 10 dead bodies away. We have arrested 17 enemy fighters and three of them are wounded and have been evacuated to hospital," Azimi said. Seven policemen were also killed and 19 Afghan soldiers wounded, he told a news conference, adding that troops had begun a "cleaning up operation" after the attacks. Fighting has begun intensifying across Afghanistan after winter and analysts say 2007 is a crunch year for the Taliban as well as their opponents. Last year was the bloodiest since the hardline Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001. More than 4,000 people died, a quarter of them civilians, and suicide bombings jumped to 139 from 21 in 2005 and are expected to increase dramatically again this year. NATO and the Afghan armed forces have launched their largest offensive ever in Helmand, targeting the Taliban and drug lords who are seeing record crops for the second year running. Operation Achilles in northern Helmand involves 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghans.

ITN Source | March 23, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

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