Taliban try to flee southern Afghanistan fighting
Nato airstrikes and artillery have killed a further 92 suspected Taliban fighters, the alliance reported today, pushing its toll of militant dead in a 10-day offensive past 500.
The latest deaths came when insurgents staged a counter-attack in Kandahar province yesterday, a Nato statement said. It added that the casualties in the province’s Panjwayi and Zhari districts were in addition to 94 militants it had already reported as dying in a clash earlier.
There has been no independent confirmation of the casualty numbers from Operation Medusa, which began on September 2. Hostilities have prevented journalists from reaching the battlefield.
Taliban spokesmen have disputed the high figures and said the alliance should display bodies as proof.
