What terrific news! An operation to reclaim a part of Farah province in Afghanistan from the Taliban has yielded two day fighting numbers of 100 dead Taliban! The article here from Breitbart is scant but take a look:
Now, the role of U.S. forces in this battle is pretty much downplayed here but with that kind of number of dead Taliban, there's no question that American air power had a significant role. Just the other day I reported on an airstrike on a "fort" in Farah province that yielded considerable dead Taliban and I'm assuming that figure is included here.
But the important thing is this - this district of Bakwa has been taken BACK from the Taliban, much like Musa Qala was a number of months ago. These are not just strategic wins for NATO and Afghan forces but highly symbolic ones. There is no question that this reverberates across the Taliban network.
What will be even more gratifying to see is when the Marines in south Helmand province starting the final push of Taliban out of that province - if NATO can clean out Helmand AND Farah, the Taliban are going to be in a world of hurt.
About 100 Taliban fighters were killed in an operation to retake a remote district from the militants in southwestern Afghanistan over the past couple of days, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
The militants were killed during a two-day operation by Afghan and foreign troops in Bakwa, a remote district which was under Taliban control for about eight months in Farah Province, ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashary said.
Now, the role of U.S. forces in this battle is pretty much downplayed here but with that kind of number of dead Taliban, there's no question that American air power had a significant role. Just the other day I reported on an airstrike on a "fort" in Farah province that yielded considerable dead Taliban and I'm assuming that figure is included here.
But the important thing is this - this district of Bakwa has been taken BACK from the Taliban, much like Musa Qala was a number of months ago. These are not just strategic wins for NATO and Afghan forces but highly symbolic ones. There is no question that this reverberates across the Taliban network.
What will be even more gratifying to see is when the Marines in south Helmand province starting the final push of Taliban out of that province - if NATO can clean out Helmand AND Farah, the Taliban are going to be in a world of hurt.
100 Taliban killed in operation to retake district+
KABUL, June 1 (AP) - (Kyodo)—About 100 Taliban fighters were killed in an operation to retake a remote district from the militants in southwestern Afghanistan over the past couple of days, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
The militants were killed during a two-day operation by Afghan and foreign troops in Bakwa, a remote district which was under Taliban control for about eight months in Farah Province, ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashary said.
The district was finally recaptured late Friday, he said.
Farah, which borders Iran, has seen some of the bloodiest violence in the past two years.
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