Massive raid on Taliban stronghold

Hundreds of Afghan troops backed by US soldiers and helicopters have attacked a suspected Taliban hide-out in southern Afghanistan, killing at least four rebels and an Afghan soldier.

The raid was launched in the Chaar Cheno district, about 90 miles northeast of Kandahar, after troops surrounded the suspected camp, said police chief Haji Mohammed Akhtar.

The area is believed to be a Taliban stronghold. “We will either kill or capture these Taliban,” Akhtar said.

A US military spokesman at its headquarters at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, confirmed US troops were involved in the raid.

“Coalition forces in support of Afghan militia are engaged in combat operations against anti-coalition forces at this time,” Col Rodney Davis said. “We prefer not to say more while operations are ongoing.”

Fighters from the hardline Muslim militia, which was ousted in late 2001 for harbouring terrorists, are believed to have stepped up attacks against government troops, aid workers and US-led coalition forces in recent weeks.

On Monday, gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying two Americans, but no injuries were reported, a provincial police chief said Tuesday.