http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=68934&Sn=WORL
Friday 12 December 2003
US push against Taliban fails
BAGRAM, Afghanistan: Nearly a week into a sweeping drive across
Afghanistan's tribal badlands, thousands of U.S. soldiers have so far failed
to engage any Taliban or allied militants, the army said on Thursday.
Instead, the US army has angered the very people it is trying to win over by
killing 15 children in two botched raids.
US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Hilferty said soldiers of the
US 501st parachute infantry regiment landed in Paktia province on Monday as
part of Operation Avalanche had yet to make contact with the enemy.
But he said they had conducted patrols and cave searches over a 100 sq km
area as part of the offensive, which is being touted as the biggest ground
operation since the Taliban's overthrow in late 2001.
"The fact that we did not hit the jackpot here is not indicative that the
air assault was not successful," he said.
Six Afghan soldiers died in an exchange of fire at a maternity hospital as
US soldiers tried to arrest a military commander in the Afghan city of
Jalalabad, witnesses said.
US soldiers blocked access to the hospital after the clash, but people said
four of Commander Esmatullah's bodyguards were killed along with two
soldiers from Jalalabad's militia force. It was unclear whose shooting
caused the casualties.
Jalalabad police chief Haji Ajab Shah said earlier there had been casualties
among the Esmatullah's bodyguards, but said he did not know if any US
soldiers were wounded.
Meanwhile, United Nations special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned in a report
released yesterday that insecurity and powerful factions could threaten
Afghanistan's first democratic elections next year.
"We have warned the (UN) Security Council that credible elections will
depend upon the creation of a legislative, political and security
environment in which voters can participate in the elections in a free, fair
and fully informed manner," he said in the document.
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