| New Offensive In Afghanistan, Karzai Denies Taliban Talks Palestine Chronicle
09/02/2003
By
[Printer Friendly Version]
"Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press earlier Monday claimed that President Hamid Karzai's government had started negotiations with Taliban officials in several parts of the province of Zabul .." BAGRAM AIR BASE - U.S.-led coalition troops and aircraft have launched a fresh offensive against suspected Taliban militants dug in on the mountains of violence-wracked southeast Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Monday, September 1. Meanwhile, Afghan officials Monday denied there were any negotiations taking place with the Taliban to end fighting in the troubled southeast province of Zabul where around 80 militants have been killed in the past week. Afghan forces supported by U.S. troops and aircraft have been engaged for the past week in a major operation against suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda bases in the mountains of Daychopan district of Zabul province, 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Kabul, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). "Today I announce the launch of a new operation - Operation Mountain Viper," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at the coalition's Bagram Air Base headquarters 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Kabul. "The operation was initiated (Saturday) with an air assault in the mountains in the vicinity of Daychopan," he said. "Of course we are operating in that area to engage anti-coalition forces," Davis said, referring to suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters reportedly regrouping in their hundreds in the remote and mountainous region. The colonel said the operation was continuing but would not provide further details. Karzai Denies Taliban Talks Meanwhile, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai denied a report by the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press that the government was negotiating with Taliban officials in Zabul. "I completely deny that," presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said when asked about the report that officials were in talks with the Taliban. "There is absolutely no negotiations going on with anyone," he told reporters. Zabul officials also denied any talks were taking place. Zabul governor Hafizullah Hashim also denied there were any negotiations and said the militants were surrounded. "The Taliban are totally surrounded in Daychopan and we will capture the whole area in one or two days," Hashim told AFP by satellite phone. Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press earlier Monday claimed that President Hamid Karzai's government had started negotiations with Taliban officials in several parts of the troubled southeastern province of Zabul. He said there were no new casualties on Monday. At least 13 suspected Taliban were killed in Zabul fighting at the weekend, according to Hashim's spokesman Noor Rahman who said 85 people had been killed during a week of clashes. "Totally, in more than a week of fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters up to 80 Taliban have been killed, five government soldiers were martyred and three were injured," Rahman told AFP Sunday from the Zabul capital Qalat, 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Daychopan. It was not possible to independently verify the death toll in the remote and mountainous area. Davis said Monday at least 37 militants had been killed, mostly in assaults by coalition aircraft. Four militants and two U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded Sunday in a separate clash close to the Pakistan border in neighboring Paktika province, 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Kabul. "Two of the soldiers died of wounds received during the initial contact with enemy fighters northwest of Shkin, in Paktika province this morning," the U.S. military said in a statement late Sunday. The third was in a stable condition. Davis said another four patrols were attacked over the weekend in the border provinces of Paktika, neighboring Paktia and northeast Kunar but there were no other casualties. "There are times that we find ambushes fairly well organised, there are other times we find that ambushes are not well organized," he said. With the latest deaths, Davis said 33 coalition soldiers have been killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan since the October 2001 launch of operations to oust the Taliban regime. Another 167 have been wounded.
Other Stories:
|