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**kKFB1BxX** · 02-18-2010, 10:06 AM

World
Feb 18, 2010

Taleban using human shields

MARJAH (Afghanistan) - TALEBAN fighters holding out in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, firing from compounds where US and Afghan forces can clearly see women and children on rooftops or in windows, Afghan and US troops said on Wednesday. The intermingling of fighters and civilians also has been witnessed by Associated Press journalists. It is part of a Taleban effort to exploit strict Nato rules against endangering innocent lives to impede the allied advance through the town in Helmand province, 610km south-west of Kabul. Two more Nato service members were killed in the Marjah operation on Wednesday, the alliance said in a statement without identifying them by nationality.

Their deaths brought to six Nato service members and one Afghan soldier who have been killed since the attack on Marjah, the hub of the Taleban's southern logistics and drug-smuggling network, began Saturday. About 40 insurgents have been killed, Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal said. During Wednesday's fighting, Marines and Afghan troops 'saw sustained but less frequent insurgent activity,' mostly small-scale attacks, Nato said in a statement. Nato spokesman Brigadier General Eric Tremblay told journalists in Brussels that most of the objectives have been achieved. 'Perhaps the pocket in the western side of Marjah still gives freedom of movement to the Taleban, but that is the extent of their movement,' he said. -- AP

02-18-2010, 10:06 AM	#20
kKFB1BxX Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 510 Senior Member	World Feb 18, 2010 Taleban using human shields MARJAH (Afghanistan) - TALEBAN fighters holding out in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, firing from compounds where US and Afghan forces can clearly see women and children on rooftops or in windows, Afghan and US troops said on Wednesday. The intermingling of fighters and civilians also has been witnessed by Associated Press journalists. It is part of a Taleban effort to exploit strict Nato rules against endangering innocent lives to impede the allied advance through the town in Helmand province, 610km south-west of Kabul. Two more Nato service members were killed in the Marjah operation on Wednesday, the alliance said in a statement without identifying them by nationality. Their deaths brought to six Nato service members and one Afghan soldier who have been killed since the attack on Marjah, the hub of the Taleban's southern logistics and drug-smuggling network, began Saturday. About 40 insurgents have been killed, Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal said. During Wednesday's fighting, Marines and Afghan troops 'saw sustained but less frequent insurgent activity,' mostly small-scale attacks, Nato said in a statement. Nato spokesman Brigadier General Eric Tremblay told journalists in Brussels that most of the objectives have been achieved. 'Perhaps the pocket in the western side of Marjah still gives freedom of movement to the Taleban, but that is the extent of their movement,' he said. -- AP
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