Afghan, coalition forces kill 50 Taliban in Tora Bora (1st Lead)

Jul 3, 2007, 13:39 GMT

Kabul - Afghan and coalition forces killed at least 50 suspected Taliban in the infamous Tora Bora area of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, while 33 other rebels were killed in the southern region, officials said Tuesday.

The joint operation by Afghan and coalition forces started in Zirlan Tangi in the Tora Bora area of eastern Nangarhar province Monday morning and at least 50 suspected militants were killed in airstrikes and by ground forces, Noor Agha Zowak, the provincial spokesman for Nangarhar governor told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

'In the operation which was mainly conducted by coalition air forces, over 50 suspected Taliban were killed since the forces moved towards the area at 7 am on Monday morning,' Zowak said.

He said that dozens of militants belonging to Mullah Zeyarat Gul, a local commander for the Taliban, had recently crossed the border from the Pakistan side, but the local people in Zirlan Tangi forced them out of their area.

'After the people informed us that the Taliban went to Tora Bora and were consolidating their posts there, our joint military commission decided to attack the area,' Zowak said, adding that the joint operation was still ongoing.

Tora Bora is a complex of caves in eastern Afghanistan from which al-Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden reportedly escaped after a fierce battle with US-led coalition forces in late 2001 soon after the fall of the Taliban regime in Kabul.

Since then, it's the first time the Taliban militants seem to be re-occupying and opening a new front in Tora Bora which has a long border with Pakistan Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Afghan and NATO forces killed at least 33 suspected Taliban insurgents in a fight in the volatile southern Kandahar province, provincial governor Assadullah Khalid said.

The attack on Taliban hideouts was conducted on Monday night in the Zherai district of the province, after a remote-control roadside bomb blast killed seven policemen in the district earlier in the day, Khalid said.

'After the police vehicle was blown up in the area, the police supported by international forces conducted a searching operation in the area and as a result of a firefight with the insurgents, 33 Taliban members were killed,' Khalid said.

He said that there were no casualties among the joint forces.

Kandahar along with its neighbouring provinces have been the scene of a resurgence of Taliban activities since the beginning of spring this year. The militancy so far has left over 2,600 people - mostly militants - dead in Afghanistan.

In a separate incident, coalition forces killed a suspected militant and detained two others in an operation early Tuesday against al-Qaeda operatives in the Zana Khan district of Ghazni Province, the US military said in a statement.

'Credible intelligence led the forces to the location suspected of housing militants,' the statement said, adding that the soldier shot dead one suspected militant while the other two were arrested for questioning.