Over 100 Insurgents Killed In Afghan Fighting

Something is going on in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press reports that more than100 insurgents have been killed in three days of fighting in Southern Afghanistan:

"A total of 102 Taliban have been killed since the fighting started on Tuesday," Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Marad said, 26 more than were reported on Wednesday evening. "These deaths will have a huge impact on the rebels. Many are trying to flee. But we have them surrounded."

[. . .]

Gen. Salim Khan, commander of 400 Afghan policemen who took part in the fighting, said the insurgents had been hit hard.

"Their camps were decimated. Bodies lay everywhere. Heavy machine guns and AK-47s were scattered alongside blankets, kettles and food," he told The Associated Press. "Some of the Taliban were also killed in caves where they were hiding and U.S. helicopters came and pounded them."

American AC-130 gunships, AH-64 Apache helicopters, A-10 attack planes and Harrier jump jets bombarded the rebels and had a "devastating effect on their forces," said another U.S. spokesman, Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara.

According to the Guardian British aircraft also joined the fight:

Harrier jets flew alongside A-10 "tankbuster" aircraft and helicopter gunships which strafed a mountainside area US officials described as a "rebel haven" in Kandahar province late into Tuesday night.

The British planes, equipped with laser-guided bombs, provided air support only, said Lieutenant Gemma Fullman, a British forces spokeswoman. "They did not drop any munitions," she said.

Why would the evil doers provide such a target? Why didn't they just melt away? Are they protecting something?