15 Taliban Killed in Southern Afghan Raids

Afghan boys play in a destroyed bus in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 7, 2006. NATO's secretary-general urged member-states Friday to help boost the alliance's forces in Afghanistan. "NATO is facing shortages still in Afghanistan and my general appeal to all allies ... is that any ally who will be able to fill these shortages should do that," Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after talks with Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) (Rodrigo Abd - AP)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of Canadian and Afghan soldiers raided Taliban strongholds throughout southern orchards Sunday, sparking fighting that killed at least 15 militants and one Canadian.

Two Canadian soldiers were wounded in Kandahar province's Zharew district, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in an ongoing anti-Taliban offensive being waged across southern Afghanistan.

Canadian Cpl. Anthony Boneca was killed in the Pasmhol village in Zharew during a "combined coalition-Afghan operation" against the Taliban, said military spokesman Maj. Marc Theriault.

Several hours later, "intense close quarters" fighting broke out nearby, leaving at least five Taliban militants dead and two Canadian soldiers slightly wounded, said another coalition official, Lt. Cdr. Mark MacIntyre.

A coalition airstrike killed another 10 militants in the neighboring Panjwayi district, where Canadian troops launched a campaign against Taliban strongholds Saturday, according to a military statement. Two Canadians also were wounded.

"The fighting we have seen over the last 48 hours has been pretty intense and there has been a number of fire fights," MacIntyre said.

Most of the fighting is taking place in fields and orchards where small bands of Taliban fighters have taken cover, MacIntyre said.

At least 18 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Four were killed in an April roadside bomb blast in the deadliest attack against the 2,300-strong Canadian contingent since deployment to Kandahar in February.

In a sign of the deadly Taliban threat in the south, the British government is preparing to deploy hundreds of extra soldiers and more equipment to the volatile Helmand province where more than 3,000 British troops are moving into.

Britain's defense secretary, Des Browne, is expected to announce the deployments to Britain's House of Commons on Monday after military commanders urgently requested reinforcements, a British defense official said on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

Six British troops have been killed in Helmand in a month and Browne acknowledged on Saturday that a British deployment into the south had "energized opposition" from a resurgent Taliban.

Britain has around 5,000 troops in Afghanistan, with 3,000 of those in Helmand _ where soldiers will head a NATO-led peacekeeping mission at the end of July.