US and Afghan attacks force Taliban retreat

ARMY CLEARS OUT FARAH CITY AS AMERICANS CONDUCT MORE DRONE STRIKES OVERNIGHT

Afghan commandos and US air attacks have driven the Taliban to the outskirts of Farah city, officials said yesterday, after a daylong battle to prevent the insurgents from seizing the western provincial capital.

The US carried out more drone strikes overnight and the Afghan army is still clearing the city, Afghan and Nato officials said.

Shops, offices and schools remain closed, with residents frightened to leave home after hours of heavy fighting. A Nato spokesman said there could be more fighting yesterday.

“The Taliban have retreated from the city and positioned their forces in the outskirts,” provincial council member Dadullah Qani told journalists from Farah.

With internet and mobile networks patchy, casualty figures were difficult to verify.

Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said 11 soldiers have been killed. Previously he and Nato had said “dozens” of Taliban were killed in the fighting.

Hiding in homes

Farah provincial governor Abdul Basir Salangi and interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish gave far higher tolls. Danish said 300 Taliban had been killed, though Salangi said the 300 figure also included the wounded.

A spokesman for Nato’s Resolute Support mission said the fighting had been “subdued” overnight but was likely to pick up again yesterday.

“We conduct[ed] a number of additional drone strikes throughout the night and continue to enable the [Afghan military], who remain squarely in the lead,” Lt Col Martin O’Donnell said. “The 207th Corps commander is leading operations on the ground and the city remains in government control.”

Some insurgents were believed to be hiding inside residents’ homes, meaning the clearing operation could take some time.