American warplanes pounded a suspected Taliban safe haven in the mountainsides of southern Afghanistan in an assault that left about 40 insurgents and a policeman dead and five U.S. soldiers wounded, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Two American CH-47 helicopters were damaged during 11 hours of fighting Tuesday at a rebel "safe haven," a U.S. military statement said. One made an emergency landing before it was repaired, while the other managed to fly back to a nearby coalition base. Two Afghan police officers were wounded in the gun battle on the border between the southern provinces of Kandahar and Zabul, the statement said. "Coalition warplanes and attack helicopters were hammering enemy positions throughout the evening," The Associated Press quoted the statement as saying. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said the operation in the rebel "safe haven" was continuing on Wednesday. More than 320 suspected rebels and 29 U.S. troops have been killed since March, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. More than three dozen Afghan police and soldiers also have died, as have more than 100 civilians.
