September 5, 2003	Friday	Rajab 7, 1424

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KANDAHAR, Sept 4: A major joint Afghan-US offensive against hundreds of suspected Taliban dug into the mountains of southeast Afghanistan has finished with around 124 militants killed, Afghan officials said Thursday.

Up to 1,000 Afghan soldiers supported by US troops and aircraft had been engaged for more than a week in the major operation against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda bases in the mountains of Daychopan district of Zabul province, 300 kilometres southwest of Kabul.

US-led coalition Special Operation Forces and 10th Mountain Division troops backed by aircraft had Saturday launched a fresh offensive in the Daychopan area, dubbed Operation Mountain Viper.

“In the 12 days of fighting around 124 Taliban have been killed whose bodies have been found on the ground and maybe they have taken some other bodies and injured with them,” Zabul intelligence director Khalil Hotak told AFP.

He said five government soldiers were also killed and seven injured. One US soldier died in an accidental fall.

Hotak said the remaining militants had fled and government forces now controlled the district.

“The Taliban have escaped and we are in total control of Daychopan. At the moment there are no enemy forces in the area anymore but you never know what is going to happen tomorrow,” he said.

“Now they are no longer there as a force but we are waiting to see from where they will reappear.”

He said coalition and Afghan troops would remain in the area until they were sure it was safe from further attacks.

US military spokesman Major Ralph Marino said Operation Mountain Viper was continuing but was not limited to Zabul.

Front line commander General Saifullah confirmed fighting had ended.

“In the morning (Wednesday) we could enter the siege area and found many dead bodies,” he said late Wednesday.

He also said some Taliban could have escaped under cover of darkness in the rugged area.

Saifullah said at least 90 militants had been killed up to Wednesday but they were still looking for bodies. He also said five Afghan soldiers had died.

The US-led coalition has confirmed between 43 and 67 militants killed in the past week but it has been impossible to independently verify the death toll in the remote and mountainous area.

Afghan authorities had said up to 300 Taliban fighters were regrouping in the mountains in Zabul and neighbouring Uruzgan. —AFP