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Us aghan forces kill 9 militants { March 6 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35449-2004Mar6.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35449-2004Mar6.html
U.S., Afghan Forces Kill 9 Militants
Reuters
Saturday, March 6, 2004; 2:57 AM
KABUL, March 6 - American and Afghan troops killed nine suspected Islamic militants in a gun battle in the eastern province of Paktika, not far from the Pakistan border, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
The clash on Friday began when U.S. forces opened fire on a group of 30 to 40 armed men who appeared to be trying to move to the side of their sniper position east of Orgun-E, 170 km (106 miles) south of Kabul, in order to launch an attack.
"They were armed, they were acting in a hostile manner, so we fired on them and then we pursued them with the Afghan National Army," U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty told a news briefing.
"Nine of them were killed in that battle, and there were no coalition casualties."
At least 10 U.S. snipers from a special operations task force in Afghanistan were involved in the battle, supported by a nearby battalion of Afghan troops. The rest of the group of suspected guerrillas fled.
The clash was one of the largest reported in recent months between 13,000 U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and their local allies and Islamic militants from groups including the ousted Taliban militia and al Qaeda.
Remnants of the Taliban have declared a "jihad," or holy war, on foreign forces, Afghan allies and aid organisations which has seriously undermined security and stability, especially in the south and east.
In a separate incident on Thursday, 14 suspected militants were captured at a compound north of the eastern town of Khost.
Troops from the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment launched an air assault and found 100 mortar rounds, 100 rocket propelled grenades, rifles and other ammunition at the compound.
"We had intelligence that led us to a compound north of Khost," Hilferty said, declining to comment further on the nature of the intelligence. The 14 suspects are being questioned.
The U.S. military is hunting al Qaeda and Taliban militants, mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan.
It has shifted away from large-scale operations to deploying smaller outfits into rural areas where they spend several days in each location to build relations with locals and improve intelligence gathering.
The prime targets are Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, Taliban supreme commander Mullah Mohammad Omar and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
© 2004 Reuters
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