US coalition says it kills 11 Taliban in operation
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The U.S. coalition said Friday its forces killed 11 Taliban militants, including the leader of a bomb-making cell, during an operation in southern Afghanistan.
The raid in Kandahar province on Thursday targeted a bomb-maker responsible for roadside bomb attacks that killed NATO soldiers, the coalition said in a statement.
Militants barricaded themselves inside a home during the raid and opened fire on the coalition forces. After giving time to allow women and children to leave, the coalition forces fired on the militants with guns and grenades, it said.
One woman who remained in the building was wounded in the leg. She was evacuated to a coalition medical facility, it said.
Coalition forces found dozens of land mines, grenades, AK-47s and bomb-making materials in the home, the coalition said.
Overnight raids by elite Special Forces troops have been a sore point with some Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai. Often Afghan officials say innocent civilians were wounded or killed during the risky operations.
Karzai last week attended a memorial ceremony for three Afghans killed in an overnight raid in Khost province. Afghan officials said the three were innocent civilians; the U.S. coalition said they were militants or linked to the insurgency.
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