NATO launches airstrikes against Taliban
NATO today launched airstrikes against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon a district in eastern Afghanistan.
The airstrikes came as NATO reported its 50th death this month - a service member killed yesterday by a makeshift bomb in the south.
NATO aircraft fired guided munitions on Taliban positions at Barg-e-Matal district in Nuristan, a province in the mountainous region on the Pakistani border. No casualty figures were given.
Government forces last week abandoned the district's main town after a major assault by Taliban militants, many of them coming in from Pakistan, Afghan officials said.
Taliban strength grew in the Nuristan area after US troops abandoned an outpost where eight American soldiers were killed in a fierce attack last October.
May is already the deadliest month this year for US troops with 33 deaths - two more than in February when American, NATO and Afghan forces seized the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province. The month also brought the 1,000th US military death in the Afghan war since it began in 2001.
US and NATO commander Gen Stanley McChrystal told reporters in the capital yesterday that Iran - Afghanistan's western neighbour - has generally assisted the Afghan government in fighting the insurgent group.
"There is, however, clear evidence of Iranian activity - in some cases providing weaponry and training to the Taliban - that is inappropriate," he said. McChrystal said NATO forces are working to stop both the training and the weapons trafficking.
Last month, McChrystal said there were indications that Taliban were training in Iran, but not many and not in a way that suggested it was part of an Iranian government policy.
Further south, NATO said a civilian contractor's helicopter crash-landed yesterday in Paktia province, killing one civilian on the ground and slightly injuring three crew members.
NATO said the cause of the hard landing was being investigated, but there were no reports of insurgent involvement.
McChrystal was attending Memorial Day ceremonies at the main US military base, Bagram Air Field, today.
Ceremonies included the unveiling of a construction beam from the World Trade Centre destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was donated by an American non-profit group supporting US forces overseas.
The Taliban have spread out beyond their heartland in the south in recent years to increasingly launch attacks countrywide.
