Afghan and US troops overrun Taliban hideouts

Afghan and US troops overran three suspected Taliban positions in the mountains of southern Afghanistan today, while American bombing echoed through the rugged region, where hundreds of Taliban holdouts have been offering a week of fierce resistance.

General Haji Saifullah Khan, the main Afghan commander in the battle area in Zabul province’s Dai Chupan district, said US warplanes and helicopter gunships kept up their barrage until shortly before dawn today.

Khan said the Taliban had been pushed back from three hideouts but were continuing to fight, using the rough terrain as their shield.

“It’s a huge mountain with many gorges in it. It provides very excellent shelter against bombing,” said Khan, who spoke to The Associated Press by satellite phone from the front lines.

The commander said his men would offer the Taliban in other hideouts a chance to surrender – then move in.

“We have tightened our siege. We are very close to the Taliban positions,” he said. “We will try to make them surrender. If they do not surrender then fighting will start.”

Khan said US warplanes targeted the Sairo Gar mountain area. His ground troops found bedding and turbans but no weapons at the three locations – Kafir Shaila, Kabai and Ragh – that were overrun. There was no ground fighting as the Taliban simply retreated from their positions.

The US military has been involved in the fighting since it began about eight days ago. Since Saturday, they have dubbed their role in the skirmishes as “Operation Mountain Viper”.

The military said US special operations forces and soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, as well as close air support, have been involved. The military would not say how many US soldiers were involved in the fighting, though Afghan officials have put the number at several hundred.

One American soldier died on Friday when he fell during a night combat mission. Two other US soldiers died in a 90-minute gun battle on Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. Four suspected Taliban were killed in that fighting.

Those deaths bring to 35 the number of US troops killed in action in Afghanistan, in addition to 162 that have been wounded, according to the US military.

Afghan presidential spokesman Jawid Luddin said that more than 500 troops of the fledgling Afghan national army had been deployed in Zabul. So far, most of the fighting on the government side has been done by provincial militia forces.

Dozens of suspected Taliban have been killed in the ongoing battle in Zabul province. US military spokesman Rodney Davis said at least 37 insurgents had been killed in direct combat or air strikes. Afghan officials have put the toll much higher.