Airstrikes kill insurgents in Afghan battle

[unhappycamper]

Airstrikes kill insurgents in Afghan battle
By Fisnik Abrashi - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 7, 2008 6:52:04 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops battled militants and called in airstrikes in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing several insurgents, while another clash in the south left 15 fighters dead.

The joint U.S.-Afghan force exchanged fire with insurgents during long clashes in the villages of Kendal and Shok in Nuristan province, the coalition said in a statement.

“As the enemy reinforced their positions with additional fighters, the ground force commander called in close air support on the reinforced defensive positions,” it said.

“These compounds contained large numbers of heavily armed insurgents who engaged the combined force with a heavy volume of machine-gun fire.”

The coalition did not provide an exact estimate of the number of militants killed in the clash.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_afghanistan_040608/