NATO says major offensive cornering Taliban

KABUL, Sep 5 (Reuters) NATO said today its major offensive to crush a revitalised Taliban in southern Afghanistan is pushing the guerrillas into a corner as heavy fighting continues.

''We are closing the circle on the Taliban -- we have got the Taliban in a bit of a trap,'' NATO spokesman Major Quentin Innes said.

Last weekend NATO launched Operation Medusa, its biggest ground offensive against an increasingly active Taliban, in Kandahar province, the hardline Islamist group's spiritual heartland.

The operation is focused on Panjwai district, near the capital, Kandahar city, and is being supported by air strikes.

Panjwai has been the scene of a series of operations by Afghan and foreign forces this year. Several thousand civilians have fled in the face of previous battles and residents say many have died in the latest fighting.

Medusa was launched after NATO forces encountered stiffer-than-expected Taliban resistance as it took over the south from US-led troops, the alliance's biggest-ever ground operation.

Casualties have been high. NATO says it has killed more than 200 guerrillas, a claim the Taliban disputes. At least five Canadian soldiers have died in combat and 14 British troops were killed when their plane crashed early in the offensive.

CIVILIAN DEATHS A Taliban spokesman said civilians had also been killed in the operation but Innes had no reports of civilian casualties.

But resident Mohammad Giran said civilians had taken the brunt of the death toll and accused NATO and Afghan troops of firing indiscriminately.

''Bombings happen day and night,'' Giran told Reuters by mobile phone from Panjwai. ''If one Taliban dies, three civilians also get killed. In the past four days, 10 of my relatives have been martyred, ''The joint forces fire upon any one without making sure if he is a Talib or not. I think 20 Taliban may have been killed, the rest are all innocent civilians.'' Taliban military chief Mullah Dadullah has threatened to target journalists spreading NATO propaganda. The Taliban says its casualties number barely a dozen.

Fighting across Afghanistan is the worst since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001.

More than 2,000 people, most of them militants, along with scores of civilians and aid workers and hundreds of Afghan security personnel, have been killed so far this year. More than 115 foreign troops have died.

NATO's commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Richards, has described Medusa as a pivotal campaign in putting down the Taliban to allow vital reconstruction and development.

REUTERS PB HS1410