NATO strikes kill 'more than 20 rebels' in Afghanistan

– Fri Oct 29, 6:46 am ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) –

NATO said Friday that air strikes killed more than 20 rebels in Afghanistan's troubled south.

The force said one raid was called in Thursday after militants opened fire on coalition aircraft flying above Spin Boldak, a district bordering Pakistan in the insurgency-hit province of Kandahar.

"When the air weapons team received small-arms and machine gun fire from a large group of insurgents, it returned fire with rockets and the aircraft?s 30mm cannon," it said.

Air weapons team is a military term for helicopter gunships.

The military said soldiers then impounded 17 motorcycles, a vehicle widely used by rebels in hit-and-run attacks. A car and several weapons were also seized, it added.

NATO said a separate air strike killed two guerrillas, one of them allegedly a senior Taliban leader, in the neighbouring province of Zabul on Thursday.

"Coalition forces conducted the precision air strike on the vehicle, destroying it and killing two occupants," it said.

There are more than 150,000 US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan supporting President Hamid Karzai's administration against the Taliban, whose nine-year insurgency is concentrated in the south.

US-led airstrike kills 20 in Afghanistan

Press TV, Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:0PM

 US-led forces during an air patrol in Afghanistan A fresh US-led airstrike has killed at least 20 people and wounded several others in the troubled southern regions of Afghanistan, NATO says.

The US-led military alliance says the airstrike took place in a district of Kandahar Province, near the border with Pakistan.

NATO issued a statement, saying that the Friday airstrike targeted a group of Taliban militants in Spin Boldak district, considered a Taliban-linked militant stronghold.

The incident comes as the US and its allies step up a bombing campaign in southern Afghanistan.

Afghan officials have repeatedly asked US-led forces to end the imprecise aerial bombardments that mostly inflict civilian casualties. US-led forces, however, maintain that they are targeting militants.

US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan are currently continuing with their massive military operation in Kandahar.

Witnesses told Press TV that NATO forces have dropped more bombs on villages they think Taliban militants are hiding in, inflicting extensive damage to civilian properties.

The Western military alliance says it is experimenting with a new powerful bomb during the operation.

British General Nick Carter told AFP that it would take until June to know if the offensive was making genuine progress.

US-led troops and Afghan forces say they have pushed Taliban militants back to mountainous areas.

More than one-hundred thousand Afghans have been killed since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

The loss of civilian lives at the hand of foreign forces has led to a dramatic increase in anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan.

US-led forces have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan under Washington's new war strategy, which aims to reduce its military presence next year.

There are more than 150,000 US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.

JR/HGH/MMN