(30 Apr 2007)
Bagram Air Base - 30 April 2007
1. Various of US Forces in Afghanistan spokesperson, Major Christopher L. Belcher
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Major Christopher L. Belcher, spokesperson for the US Forces in Afghanistan:
"Afghan National Police and United States Special Forces identified and engaged several Taliban positions, 37 miles (59 kilometres) south of Shindand in Herat province during a reconnaissance patrol on April 29th. They were able to identify the positions, move into a position to engage them and engage them with mortars, small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades."
3. Cutaway of arm badge
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Major Christopher L. Belcher, spokesperson for the US Forces in Afghanistan:
"A total of 7 fighting positions were destroyed during this engagement and 87 Taliban were killed. About 48 hours before that a joint Afghan National Police and United States Special Forces patrol was engaged by about 70 Taliban with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. They returned fire during that engagement, killing 49 Taliban. One US soldier was killed in that engagement."
FILE: Panjwai district of Kandahar province - 19 January 2007
5. Various of US Special Forces on patrol
6. Various of US Special Forces soldiers on a Humvee
STORYLINE
US-led coalition and Afghan forces battled with Taliban insurgents over three days in western Afghanistan, leaving at least 136 suspected militants dead, a spokesperson for the US Forces in Afghanistan said on Monday.
"Afghan National Police and United States Special Forces identified and engaged several Taliban positions, 37 miles (59 kilometres) south of Shindand in Herat province during a reconnaissance patrol on April 29th," spokesperson Major Christopher L. Belcher told AP Television.
"They were able to identify the positions, move into a position to engage them and engage them with mortars, small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades," he added.
Acting on intelligence about Taliban activity in Herat's Zerkoh Valley, coalition and Afghan forces attacked the insurgents and called in an airstrike, destroying seven Taliban positions and killing 87 fighters during a 14-hour engagement on Sunday, a coalition statement said.
Another 49 Taliban were killed two days earlier by a combination of gunfire and an airstrike and a US soldier was also killed in the engagement, Belcher confirmed.
The coalition statement said there were no reports of civilians wounded in the two battles. It was not immediately possible to confirm the casualty figures independently.
The bloodshed enraged local people.
Hundreds gathered in front of the police station and government headquarters in Shindand district where Zerkoh Valley is located, chanting "Death to America!" according to a district police chief.
He also confirmed that the attack had killed "a large number of people" but did not have figure for the number of dead.
Shindand is a former Taliban stronghold where the majority of people are ethnic Pashtuns - the tribe from which the insurgents garner most of their support.
Recent weeks have seen an upsurge in violence in Afghanistan after a winter lull, with Taliban-led militants stepping up attacks, and coalition and NATO forces launching a series of offensives against them around the country.
The clashes in Herat appear to be the deadliest in the once-stable west of the country since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
Most of the fighting has been concentrated in the volatile south and east.
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