Major offensive in eastern Afghanistan 'successful'
The largest military operation in the past four years against Taliban and al-Qaida militants has been completed in Afghanistan’s eastern mountains, US and Afghan officials said today.
Some 2,500 troops participated in Operation Mountain Lion, which was launched in mid-April in Kunar province to combat an upsurge in attacks by militant supporters of the hard-line Taliban regime ousted by US-led forces in late 2001.
Eleven militants were killed and seven arrested in the operation, said Gen Zahir Azimi, the Defence Ministry spokesman.
Three Afghan soldiers and one translator were killed, and a US transport helicopter crashed accidentally during the operation, killing all 10 American soldiers on board.
Col Tom Collins, a spokesman for the US-led coalition, described the operation as “successful” in denying militants sanctuary and improving the lives of Afghans through reconstruction projects.
Dozens of explosive devices were discovered and destroyed, he said.
Gen Zamaria Khan, an Afghan army commander, said 1,200 Afghan soldiers are still in the region to help with reconstruction projects.
Four years after the ouster of the Taliban, militants are still active across much of southern and eastern Afghanistan, threatening the country’s fragile democracy and hopes for peace.
