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Afghan, NATO Forces Launch Anti-Taliban Air-and-Ground Push in Kandahar

28 September 2010 04:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Afghan and NATO forces are staging a new push to drive Taliban militants out of their stronghold around the southern city of Kandahar, APA reports quoting â€œThe voice of Americaâ€.

Officials say ’Operation Dragon Strike’ is an air-and-ground phase of an ongoing anti-Taliban offensive that already has involved weeks of fighting.

NATO spokesman Josef Blotz, a German brigadier general, says Afghan and coalition forces expect tough battles in the coming days. He says the goal of the operation is to destroy Taliban positions around Kandahar and force the militants to leave the area or to fight and be killed.

There are no reports of casualties among Afghan or NATO forces since the operation began in recent days.

Afghan officials say the government also is focused on implementing development projects in Kandahar. Clearing the southern region of militants is a key part of the U.S.-led strategy to help Kabul extend its authority over the country.

In other developments, a roadside bomb blast killed a Polish soldier Monday in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni.

Afghan authorities also are searching for a British aid worker and her three Afghan colleagues kidnapped Sunday by militants in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

The British government has confirmed that a British national was abducted in Afghanistan. London says it is working with Afghan authorities on the case and has contacted the abductee’s family.