The raids between July 9-16 included about 40 operations, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

The operations hit insurgent leaders and networks, some of them responsible for recent attacks against coalition and Afghan targets, it said.

"These operations are part of the greater coalition activities designed to protect the Afghan people and deny the insurgents shelter and their ability to operate in Afghanistan," the ISAF statement said.

The insurgents were "systematically tracked and targeted in precision" attacks to ensure civilians were not harmed, the statement said.

"In over 75 percent of the operations conducted this week, insurgents were captured without a single shot fired. This fact should be placed in stark contrast to the over 46 civilians killed by the insurgents during the same period." it said.

It said drugs, including 1.9 tonnes of heroin with a street value of 39 million dollars, weapons and bomb-making materials were also seized during the raids.

ISAF troops backed by their Afghan counterparts have increased their activities against the insurgents in recent months trying to push back the rebels from their sanctuaries, mostly in the south of the country.

There are almost 150,000 NATO and US troops in the country, including a "surge" of 30,000 extra troops as part of counter-insurgency plans to take the fight to the Taliban and speed an end to the long war.

Military officials say the surge has led to more battlefield engagements, and thus more military casualties, with the toll of foreign troops so far this year at 375, compared to 520 for all of 2009.

earlier related report
Four British troops die in Afghanistan: officials
London (AFP) July 17, 2010 - Four members of Britain's armed forces have died in southern Afghanistan within 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence in London said Saturday.

A marine and two soldiers were killed in separate explosions, while an airman died in a vehicle accident near Camp Bastion, the main British military base.

In the first explosion, a member of the 40 Commando Royal Marines died while on foot patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, on Friday.

The second blast killed a soldier from The Royal Dragoon Guards in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand on Saturday. He was part of a patrol providing security to allow the construction of new roads and security bases, the MoD said.

Another soldier, from the Royal Logistic Corps, also died while helping clear a major route in southern Nahr-e Saraj on Saturday. He was working in a team dismantling roadside bombs when he was killed by an explosion.

Meanwhile, an airman from The Royal Air Force Regiment who was serving as part of the Camp Bastion Force Protection Wing in Helmand died on Friday in a traffic accident, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said.

The families of the dead have been informed.

Earlier this week, a renegade Afghan soldier killed three British troops on an army base in Helmand.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said last month he wants the country's combat troops to withdraw from Afghanistan within five years, without fixing a precise timetable.

A total of 322 British forces personnel or civilians working for the MoD have now died in Afghanistan since 2001. Britain has around 10,000 troops there as part of an international force fighting the Taliban.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News