US and Afghan troops overran Taliban and al Qaeda rebels around Shahi Kot in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sending them fleeing towards the Pakistan border and effectively ending the biggest battle of the Afghan war, a senior Afghan general said.
On the 11th day of the battle 150 km (95 miles) south of Kabul, General Abdullah Joyenda said US and Afghan forces now controlled the entire Shahi Kot area, about 32 km (20 miles) east of Gardez, capital of Paktia Province bordering Pakistan.
The battle of Shahi Kot is over. A coalition of both Afghan and US forces has taken control of the entire Shahi Kot Valley, Joyenda, one of several generals in charge of the fighting, told reporters.
The Taliban and al Qaeda are retreating towards the frontier with Pakistan, said the general, who had just returned from the frontline.
Other fighters back from the area said Afghan forces, backed by heavy U.S. bombing, broke through rebel trenches around midday today to advance on the mountain caves where the remaining rebels were holding out.
Afghan forces pressed home the attack by using tanks to blast the caves at close range.
"They were using heavy machine guns to defend their positions but when we broke through the trenches and we advanced with tanks and armoured personnel carriers the Taliban retreated," Sayed Hassad told reporters.
"We captured seven trenches and killed three rebels at least in every trench," he said. Most were Pakistanis and Arabs. He said about 800 Afghan troops led by US advisers were involved in the final advance on a 60-square-mile (155 square km) combat zone.
Another soldier Bari Ali said other Afghans climbed down to rebel hideouts from mountains that soar 12,000 feet (3,600 metres) above sea level, and threw hand grenades into the caves. Earlier today, before the final advance, a US military spokesman said there had been no accurate or sustained enemy fire for more than five days.
He said the overall coalition toll was 11 dead, including eight Americans, and about 80 wounded. It was not known if the toll rose in the latest battle.
Eleven days into the fighting hundreds of terrorists and killers are dead. Some are captured and others are alive and on the run, he said.
It was the biggest US-led battle of the five-month Afghan war against the former ruling Taliban and the al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, Washington's chief suspect in the September 11th hijacked airliner attacks on US cities.