Grim's Hall

Taliban in Zabul:

The Asia Times finds the Taliban in Zabul province, Afghanistan:

The significant increase in the number and nature of attacks on US targets, as well as on the Afghan administration, provides indisputable evidence that the Taliban are back with a vengeance, especially in the south of the country. It is now as clear as broad daylight that neither an indigenous force nor a foreign force (not even one with massive bombers ruling the skies) can control the resistance movement.
On the face of it, the Taliban are the most isolated guerrilla fighters in the world, with no moral or material help from outside the country. However, there is an intriguing world within Afghanistan and Pakistan that supports and facilitates the struggle against foreign troops.
Across a broad swath of Afghanistan in the south and southeast Taliban-led guerrilla operations are the order of the day. Their attacks initially targeted US bases and convoys, but now the Afghan administration is in the firing line. The reason for this is to frighten as many local Afghans as possible into laying down their weapons, thereby leaving the battlefield clear for Taliban militia to take on US-led forces in the rugged mountainous terrain of the region.
This target has already very much been achieved in the southern Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan, including Zabul and Hilmand, beside Urugzan, which is nearing the point where the US-backed Afghan administration will be forced to flee.

There is a great deal more, and it's worth reading. This space has been covering the Taliban's reconquista of Zabul and the other border regions for some time. It will come as no surprise to any of you to find out that the Taliban are moving in irregular light battallions through Zabul, attacking symbols of authority, destroying caravans, and assassinating clerics and governmental figures.

However! Our fighting men are not idle. Today one of those irregular battallions was located in Zabul province, and has come under fire from US warplanes and hundreds of Afghan soldiers, backed by US forces. The fight is still ongoing at this hour. Give 'em hell, lads.

UPDATE: Reuters is now reporting up to 50 Taliban killed in this engagement.

UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting a lowball figure on casualties, but says coalition forces captured a Taliban staging base in the mountains. Perhaps we'll get some intel out of it. Meanwhile, Radio Australia has a report that puts the figures between 40 and 50.