Canada Captures Taliban Turf in Fierce Combat

Go Canada!

Reuters — Canadian and Afghan troops pushed into a Taliban
heartland in southern Afghanistan, fought off fierce counter-attacks and
fortified an outpost on Sunday to stay in the area.

An Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman said at least 12
Taliban fighters were killed and another 15 wounded in the fighting for control
of the Sangisar district, where fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar
once lived and preached at a local mosque.

Canadian troops have fought the Taliban for control of the
area, west of the biggest southern city Kandahar, for more than a year with each
side seizing then losing the same ground several times.

But this time, dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles
followed the troops into the area to fortify two seized civilian compounds and
stay in the Sangisar district.

The operation began on Friday night with around 100
Canadian and some 50 Afghan troops driving a spearhead into the area under cover
of darkness and seizing the compounds. By morning the troops were surrounded by
Taliban and fighting at close quarters.