Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 19, 2008; Page A10
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 18 -- Hundreds of Afghan and Canadian troops launched a major attack Wednesday against Taliban fighters who have moved into several villages in southern Afghanistan in recent days, according to military officials.
Troops with the Afghan army and the Canadian command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force initiated joint patrols around Arghandab district in Kandahar province early in the morning. Helicopter gunships flew overhead and armored vehicles rolled into the district as Taliban fighters exchanged fire with NATO and Afghan forces.
Kandahar's provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, said at least 16 Taliban fighters were killed and four injured in the counteroffensive. He said insurgents had staked out positions in the orchards of Arghandab and were generally surrounded by NATO and Afghan forces.
NATO spokesman Mark Laity said there were no reported NATO casualties. A NATO general told the Reuters news service that some Afghan troops had been killed.
"The operation is on track and on schedule. So far, we've had only minor contact with insurgents," Laity said.
Laity said Afghan and Canadian troops confirmed that there was a Taliban presence in Arghandab, but he added that reports that hundreds of insurgents were active in the region were "greatly exaggerated."
Saqib, the provincial police chief, said that it was difficult to estimate the exact number of insurgents in the region but that the numbers probably were exaggerated by Taliban spokesmen. There "are not that many to worry about," he said.
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