Dozens of Taliban killed in NATO-Afghan offensive

KABUL, Sep 3 (Reuters) NATO and Afghan forces killed dozens of Taliban fighters in a major air and ground offensive in southern Afghanistan, NATO said today, a day after 14 British military personnel were killed when their plane crashed.

Hundreds of NATO and Afghan troops, backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships, were involved in Operation Medusa launched on Saturday in Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

A Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 plane crashed while providing support for the operation. Officials say the crash was caused by a technical problem, though the Taliban claimed its fighters shot down the plane with a Stinger missile.

''The Taliban have suffered heavy casualties in the operation,'' Major Scott Lundy, a NATO spokesman, adding that no combat casualties had been suffered on the Afghan and NATO side.

A NATO statement released from Kandahar Airfield later said dozens of insurgents had been killed and many more wounded.

Panjwai, southwest of Kandahar city, had been a centre of Taliban resistance, Lundy said.

The operation was the biggest launched by the alliance since it took over command of the southern region on July 31 from U.S.-led coalition forces, Lundy said.

HEAVY FIGHTING Panjwai has seen heavy fighting before, and several thousand people fled the region earlier this year to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

This time, Lundy said, NATO asked villagers to evacuate the area beforehand and there were no reports of civilian casualties.

A purported Taliban member, Nasib Khan, phoned Reuters from the battle zone and denied that any Taliban fighters had been killed.

The sound of artillery fire, and explosions resounded as he spoke, and the cries of children were heard in the background.

The insurgency is going through its bloodiest period since US-backed forces overthrew a Taliban government in late 2001 after it refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

More than 2,000 people, most of them militants, along with scores of civilians and aid workers as well as hundreds of Afghan security personnel have been killed so far this year, while over 100 foreign troops, have died, including those killed in yesterday's plane crash.

REUTERS LL KP1900