name: Insurgents Driven Out of Shah Wali Kot
text: Insurgents Driven Out of Shah Wali Kot
  ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2010-06-CA-059  For Immediate Release
   KABUL, Afghanistan (June 16) - Afghan National Security Forces with ISAF partners successfully conducted a large scale operation against Taliban insurgents in the district of Shah Wali Kot, north of Kandahar City recently. The intent of this operation was to disrupt a key insurgent haven from which attacks against Afghan communities and coalition forces were planned and executed.  Directly contributing to the ongoing efforts of Hamkari security operations in Kandahar City and nearby districts, the five-day operation saw heavy fighting with one period of non-stop, close-quarter combat lasting the entire day and resulting in the death of a significant number of insurgents. Through this operation, the combined force dealt a major blow to more than 100 insurgents and their commanders.  After days of intense operations, the combined force succeeded in taking all key positions in the region and forcing remaining insurgents to flee the area. Afghan leaders from the combined force then met with members of the local community to plan ways the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan could assist them in keeping out the Taliban.  A member of the combined force said the local population of Shah Wali Kot were grateful to the Afghan and international forces for pushing out the insurgents who had levied heavy taxes on residents, occupied their villages and forced them to provide food and shelter to the Taliban.  No civilians were injured in this operation.
  
  
  
  
  
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  "Afghan officials said there had recently been fierce fighting in the Shah Wali Kot district of northern Kandahar, where the chopper went down." (from June 21, 2010 piece by Laura King - "Helicopter crash, violence kill 7 Western troops in Afghanistan")