US, Afghan troops kill nearly 20 Al-Qaeda men near Pak border

Press Trust of India ^ | 10/27/03 | Unknown

[Coop]

United States and Afghan forces killed 20 Al-Qaeda fighters near the Pakistani border at the weekend, a police chief said on Monday.

Battles erupted on Saturday after militants attacked US troops in Gomal district in the insurgency-hit southeast province of Paktika, provincial police chief Daulat Khan said.

"In Gomal district close to the Pakistani border a group of al-Qaeda attacked American forces," Khan told AFP by satellite telephone.

"In the subsequent fighting 20 Al-Qaeda members were killed, four were arrested and three Afghan soldiers working with Americans were also killed."

"According to our information, the Al-Qaeda attacked American forces first."

The fighting took place around the town of Khand opposite the Pakistani frontier town of Angoor Adda, where Pakistani troops have been flushing out suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters since early October.

Khan said US warplanes and attack helicopters were brought in but he could not say whether they were used.

"There were planes, helicopters and jets flying in the sky but we have no reports of bombing by American planes," the police chief said.

Paktika is on the frontline of a stepped-up insurgency by regrouped Taliban fighters, who move with ease over the porous 2,450-km frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan where they are believed to be regrouping.

Angoor Adda has been repeatedly identified as an escape route for Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants fleeing after staging hit-and-run attacks on US troops.

[irish_lad]

Slaughter them all like the animals they are.

[blackie]

Belzebub: "Why, shoveling camel sh#t, of course!"

And they thought they were getting a covey of vestal virgins. :-/

[blackie]

Thank God they a small minority. :)

[mark502inf]

US, Afghan troops kill nearly 20 Al-Qaeda men near Pak border

Best thing to do with them.

[Cronos]

If alQ is over the border, our troops along with the Afghanis should follow them and eliminate their camps -- strike at the vipers nest

[Coop]

If alQ is over the border, our troops along with the Afghanis should follow them and eliminate their camps -- strike at the vipers nest

For the most part the cowards don't bother with camps anymore. Too easy to identify and neutralize. As far as tracking them into Pakistan, to my knowledge our troops can't simply cross the border. But we have folks working with Pakistani troops to get them on that side.

[Cronos]

If they aren't in Camps then I presume they move from village to village. Oooh, that's dicey, can't send in troops into a village, then the lib media will trump up some charges. If they're hiding out in the hills, that makes life a lot more easier. A few air raids....

[Coop]

You've just got it all figured out, don't you?