By KUNA,
Kabul : NATO and Afghan forces have killed more than 60 Taliban in ground fighting and air strikes in the restive southern zone of Afghanistan early Sunday, officials said. The fighting erupted when groups of militants, armed with heavy and light weapons, attacked the city of Lashkargah, capital of Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province, late on Saturday.
The militants were struggling to besiege the capital city with focus on the official residence of the provincial governor. However, the NATO and Afghan forces responded and repelled the attack, said governor’s spokesman Dawood Ahmadi on Sunday. He said more than 60 of the attackers were killed in the ground battle and air strikes by the NATO troops while the rest escaped the scene. He said a search operation was underway to arrest those who fled.
A statement from ISAF headquarters in Kabul said that the allied troops had successfully thwarted a militant attack in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand, last night.
ISAF spokesperson Brigadier General Richard Blanchette said during this counter attack, ISAF forces successfully conducted air strikes killing many enemy troops.
“If the insurgents planned a spectacular attack prior to the winter, this was a spectacular failure,” said the spokesperson.
Earlier, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi had claimed that their men had surrounded the city of Lashkargah and the official residence of the governor and the provincial governor was asking for safe exit.
The Taliban spokesman was not available for comments about the fresh developments and the claim made by the Afghan government.
Claims and counter-claims are used as a war tool by the warring sides in Afghanistan to get psychological edge over the opponents. The siege of the provincial capital by the resurging Taliban is the first incident of its type in Afghanistan in recent years.
The report has appeared at a time NATO commanders and some leaders of the NATO alliance are openly expressing their mind that “decissive victory” in Afghanistan is not possible.
The United States, which is leading the war against al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, has also issued some indications in recent weeks that talks with Taliban could not be ruled out. Earlier, the US was averse to talks with Taliban and was stressing the complete elimination of the ousted militia.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai publicly admitted about a week back that he had sought mediation by Saudi King Abdullah between his government and the Taliban to put an end to the Afghan battle.
Saudi Arabia was one of the three countries that had recognised the Taliban after their take-over of Kabul, the central capital of Afghanistan, in 1996. The other two countries were the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan’s closest neighbour, Pakistan.
Former Taliban officials had disclosed that a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah was held, during September, in Saudi Arabia to discuss peace in Afghanistan. They included some former top officials like Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mulla Salam Zaeef and Taliban era foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil. However, the two people denied it was an official meeting.