voa标准英语2008年-US Forces Kill 19 Militants in Eastern Afghanis
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The U.S. military in Afghanistan says troops conducting several raids targeting al-Qaida, Taliban and Haqqani militant1 networks have killed 19 fighters. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from neighboring Pakistan that there are also news reports that the head of British special forces in Afghanistan has resigned after complaining of a lack of equipment. |
| U.S. soldiers of the Third Platoon Delta2 Company 1-26 stand guard during a patrol in Narang district near Pakistani border in Kunar province eastern Afghanistan, 01 Nov 2008 |
The U.S. military has been engaged in heavy fighting in eastern Afghanistan for months against groups of Afghan and Pakistani militants3 as well as foreign fighters.
Lieutenant4 Commander Walter Matthews says one of Friday's raids targeted a compound of an al-Qaida leader.
"In Dara Noor District, coalition5 forces targeted a known al-Qaida leader, believed to facilitate the movement of foreign fighters and weapons into Kunar province," he said. "The al-Qaida leader is also believed to be in contact with other militants in the region, coordinating6 attacks against coalition forces and innocent civilians7."
The military did not say if the leader was killed during the raid, but said troops killed one armed woman during the operation.
Local officials say they are looking into reports that some civilians were killed during the operation.
Other operations targeted the so-called Haqqani network, a group of militants led by Jalauddin Haqqani, a long-time Afghan guerrilla commander who U.S. officials have alleged8 has ties to al-Qaida militants and Pakistani intelligence agents.
Meanwhile, a British newspaper says the head of the country's elite9 special forces in Afghanistan has abruptly10 resigned because of a lack of armored vehicles for his troops.
The Daily Telegraph reported Major Sebastian Morely claimed The British Defense11 Ministry12 ignored his warnings that the military's lightly armored "Snatch Land Rovers" are too vulnerable for the Afghan mission. The major blamed the deaths of four troops on what he called the ministry's "chronic13 underinvestment."
The Defense Ministry responded that officials are focused on providing vehicles to protect troops from "ever-shifting threats posed by the enemy."
