Afghan and coalition forces pounded a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan Saturday, killing five rebels and leaving an Afghan and three foreign soldiers wounded, the coalition said.
The air and ground assault was launched in the early morning in the Panjwayi area in Kandahar province which has been the focus of intense military action in recent months, and continued more than 12 hours later.
"Since one o'clock this morning coalition forces have been involved in numerous fights in a deliberate joint operation to take out the Taliban from this area," coalition spokeswoman Julie Roberge told AFP. "It is estimated that five Taliban have been killed. One Taliban was wounded and evacuated by coalition forces to a medical facility and four are detained. "Three coalition forces soldiers are wounded (and) one Afghan army soldier was wounded. Their condition is unknown at this time," Captain Roberge said.
She did not disclose the nationalities of the wounded coalition soldiers, in line with coalition policy. She also could not give details of the battle because the operation was ongoing. The US-dominated coalition in the south includes soldiers from Canada, Britain and other nations. Roberge said intelligence showed that the Taliban had massed in the area, which is 35 kilometres (22 miles) south-west of Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan.