(11 Jan 2007)
FILE: Bermel District, Paktika Province - 23 October 2006
1. Wide of helicopter flying over Bermel district
2. Various of American and Afghan forces
Kabul - 11 January 2007
3. Set up of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) spokesman Major Dominic Whyte
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Major Dominic Whyte, NATO Spokesman:
"Last night (Wednesday) Afghan and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces identified a large group of insurgents as they crossed the border from Pakistan into Paktika province. Once the insurgents had crossed the border they were engaged by close air support and artillery and in the ensuing fire-fight some 150 insurgents were killed."
5. Close-up of badge reading: "ISAF"
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Major Dominic Whyte, NATO Spokesman:
"Defeating such a large group of insurgents is an undoubted success for ISAF and the Afghan forces. Without doubt the death of 150 insurgents will be a major blow for any insurgents operating in that district."
Bermel District, Paktika Province - 11 January 2007
7. Various of US and Afghan troops
STROYLINE:
A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) spokesman claimed on Thursday that as many as 150 insurgents were killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan after two large groups of fighters crossed the border from Pakistan.
The fighters were attacked with ground fire and air-strikes, NATO spokesman Major Dominic Whyte said.
"Last night (Wednesday) Afghan and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces identified a large group of insurgents as they crossed the border from Pakistan into Paktika province," Whyte said.
"Once the insurgents had crossed the border they were engaged by close air support and artillery and in the ensuing fire-fight some 150 insurgents were killed," Whyte added.
Whyte said that defeating a large group of insurgents was "an undoubted success for ISAF and the Afghan forces."
General Murad Ali, the Afghan army regional deputy corps commander, said the insurgents had travelled into Paktika province with several trucks of ammunition.
However there was some disparity in the estimate of the number of insurgents killed.
While NATO claimed 150 insurgents had been killed, General Ali said it was more than 50 insurgents who had been killed and Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, estimated the toll at 80.
It was not clear why there was such a disparity in the estimates.
Independent confirmation of the death toll was not immediately possible on the remote battle site.
Dr. Muhammad Hanif, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said in a text message to an Associated Press reporter in Pakistan that the figure of 150
dead was "a complete lie" and "the American's wanted to boost morale of their troops while making such claims."
Taliban militants last year launched a record number of attacks, and an estimated four-thousand people died in insurgency-related violence, the bloodiest year since the US-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001.
The fight in the Bermel district of Paktika province is the first major engagement of 2007 and appeared to be the largest battle since a multi-day operation killed more than 500 Taliban fighters in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province in September.
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