Evil Muslim Taliban Accused of Using Kids As Shields

http://www.newsmax.com/international/afghanistan/2007/09/19/33906.html

Taliban Accused of Using Kids As Shields

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The U.S.-led coalition accused the Taliban of using

children as human shields during a battle in southern Afghanistan on

Wednesday, while NATO said it was investigating a shipment of weapons

intercepted near the border with Iran this month.

The fighting in Uruzgan province began when more than 20 insurgents armed

with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked a joint

Afghan and coalition patrol Wednesday morning, the coalition said in a

statement.

As a coalition aircraft prepared to bomb the site, "coalition forces as well

as the aircraft identified several insurgents in one compound using children

as human shields," it said. Ground forces and the aircraft withheld fire to

avoid injuring the children. It was impossible to independently verify the

coalition allegations.

The troops fought Taliban trying to flee the compound, and more than a dozen

suspected militants were killed, the coalition said. There were no reports

of casualties to troops or civilians.

International forces have come under heavy criticism for causing civilian

casualties during airstrikes on suspected militant locations. President

Hamid Karzai has pleaded with foreign troops to coordinate more closely with

their Afghan counterparts to prevent villagers from being hurt, and the

number of civilian casualties has dropped recently.

Also Wednesday, a NATO spokesman said the coalition was investigating a

weapons shipment recently intercepted by troops in Farah province near the

Iranian border.

"Although we know that it came from the geographic area of Iran, there is no

definitive indication that it came from the Iranian government. We're still

evaluating what is contained in that shipment," spokesman Maj. Charles

Anthony said.

A Washington Post report Sunday said the shipment seized Sept. 6 was being

sent to the Taliban and included armor-piercing bombs similar to those that

have been used in against foreign troops in Iraq. International troops

intercepted two other shipments said to be from Iran earlier in the year.

NATO's top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan McNeill, has said there is no

evidence linking the Iranian government to the shipments.

Last month, President Bush accused Iran of playing a destabilizing role in

Afghanistan. But Karzai has said Iran's role is helpful.

During a visit to Kabul last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

said he has "serious doubts" that his country is supplying weapons to

Taliban insurgents. He called Afghanistan a "brotherly nation" whose

stability is paramount for the region.

About 2,500 Afghan and NATO troops launched a new military operation

Wednesday in Afghanistan's most violent southern province. The operation is

in the Gereshk region of Helmand province, the site of the fiercest battles

this year and the world's largest opium-producing region.

The NATO force said the troops would conduct "security and stabilization"

operations in the upper Gereshk Valley, but provided no other details.

Insurgency-related violence has killed more than 4,500 people this year,

including 3,100 militants and 600 civilians, according to an Associated

Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned its citizens that suicide bomb attacks were

expected to increase during the holy month of Ramadan.

In the latest violence, a suicide bomb attack in the Garmsir district of

Helmand wounded eight officers, said provincial police chief Mohammad

Hussein Andiwal.

In Kabul, a suicide bomber blew himself up on the road leading to the U.S.

air base in Bagram, the Interior Ministry said. No one else was hurt.

In southern Zabul province, Taliban militants killed three security guards

protecting a construction project in Qalat, said Gulab Shah Alikhail,

spokesman for the governor.