Taliban defeated in attack on Spera near Pakistan border

AFP:

Up to 70 insurgents were killed in Afghanistan early Sunday when helicopter gunships and ground fighting repulsed an attack by about 100 rebels near the Pakistan border, officials said.

It was the latest in a series of major battles as violence linked to a Taliban-led insurgency has picked up in recent weeks with several deadly extremist attacks and military operations under way against the rebels.

About 100 insurgents had tried to capture the Spera district centre, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the border with Pakistan, opening fire on police at about 2:00 am with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the NATO force said.

Police and soldiers from NATO's International Security Assistance Force surrounded the attackers and called air strikes consisting of heavy machinegun fire from helicopters, an ISAF statement said.

"Some insurgents attempted to take cover in a nearby building that helicopters then struck with missiles.

"ANP (Afghan National Police) and ISAF continued to engage the insurgents in a firefight from the ground and air until the early morning hours," it said.

...

"They had killed one policeman in the initial attack and had captured another officer who was later beheaded," governor Arsala Jamal told AFP.

"As they retreated, international military air forces came in and bombed them. Fifty to 70 Taliban have been killed," Jamal said.

The rebels were able to get "very close" to the district headquarters in Spera before the air forces arrived, the governor said.

The air strikes were later halted to avoid civilian casualties after the militants moved into villages, he said.

"We could have killed more Taliban if they had not entered the villages. Those of them killed were targeted while massing in an area outside the villages," he said.

...

CNN reports that "Troops then coordinated with the Pakistan military to fire on the retreating insurgents, killing several, ISAF said."

The report describes at least two war crimes by the Taliban.

Beheading a prisoner is not permitted under the Geneva Conventions. In fact many on the left think sleep deprivation is a war crime, but you never see the left complain about Taliban war crimes. That is why you should be suspicious of leftist who make accusations against our forces.

The second war crime is using civilians as human shields. They entered the village so that they could hide behind the skirts of the women and children deliberately endangering them. If they had been attacked they would have then accused the coalition forces of attacking a wedding party or some such activity.

It is very likely that the Taliban also violated the Geneva Conventions requirements to wear identfying uniforms.

The media needs to do a better job of identifying these acts as war crimes by the enemy. By not reporting it they become the enablers of those who perpetrate war crimes. The coalition media releases should also provide this information on war crimes. That would make the media more likely to report it.

The BBC story is here. The BBC map gives an idea of where Khost province is located.