Canadian military officials say they're happy with a weekend raid carried out by coalition forces that reportedly caught the Taliban completely by surprise.

About 70 Taliban fighters were asleep in a compound when Canadian, Afghan National Army and British Ghurka soldiers attacked.

Forty-one Taliban died, with no coalition or civilian casualties reported in Operation Sharp Sword.

Airstrikes were used on the insurgents.

Maj. Richard Moffat, deputy commanding officer of the Canadian battle group, told reporters in Kandahar on Monday that the airstrikes were precisely targeted.

"All the strikes that happened were in open terrain," he said. "We kick them out, we follow them and we strike them."

Coalition forces also seized a significant amount of ammunition, he said.

"I will not tell you the exact amount or specifically what we found, but a lot of things. It will have an effect on them for the coming days and weeks. They'll have to reconstitute," he said.

Ultimately, however, this operation will do more to disrupt the Taliban than end their presence in the area, Moffat said.

The Taliban compound is believed to have been used as a base for insurgents attacking military convoys travelling Highway 1 between Hows E Madad and Kandahar City, Moffat said.

CTV's Murray Oliver told Newsnet from Kandahar that Highway 1 is a vital artery in southern Afghanistan.

"And so the army -- the Canadian forces in addition with Afghan National Army troops -- wanted to really relieve the pressure on that highway and stop these Taliban attacks," he said.

New plan 

The raid took place in an area called Fiah Choi, part of the Panjwaii-Zhari districts, where Canadians have pushed out the Taliban only to see them slink back later.

Almost exactly one year ago, Canadian soldiers participated in Operation Operation Baaz Tsuka, an effort to dislodge the Taliban from approximately the same area.

When it was over, Canada heralded it as a victory, "and here we are fighting once again," Oliver said.

Canadian officers now have a new plan for keeping the Taliban out of cleared area. The plan involves building small outposts that join together Afghan national army and police, with Canadians operating as trainers and liaison officers who can do things like call in airstrikes, he said.

"To be able to separate the insurgents and the locals you have to stay in place," Moffat said.

"We must remain with the population and that way we can drive a wedge between the insurgents and the local population, and wherever we have strong points we can see that happening right now."

However, the Afghan police haven't shown themselves to be very professional, Oliver said.

"I'll just say that I spoke with one soldier who was in one of these new outposts with an Afghan National Police unit," he said.

"The soldier told us that all the Afghan national policemen ran away and left her all by herself, with another couple Canadian troops to hold the outpost against a Taliban attack."

Moffat said there are numerous efforts underway to professionalize the police force.

Strategic troubles

There are concerns about how well the Afghan mission is going at the highest levels of NATO and the United States, Oliver said.

He cited a New York Times article on Sunday that said the Bush administration and NATO have started three top-to-bottom reviews of the mission.

The article said more must be done to co-ordinate the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda, to halt the drug production that's helping fund the insurgency and to help the central government in Kabul extend its legitimacy and control.

Another suggestion is a "super-envoy" who would co-ordinate aid and development efforts.

At NATO meetings in Edinburgh, Scotland last week, the military alliance said it wouldn't be trying to help Canada's efforts with more troops, but would instead help provide money, aid workers and supplies.

Oliver said he hasn't heard much public reaction from Canadians in Afghanistan to those suggestions.

Canada has about 2,500 troops serving in Afghanistan. Seventy-three of those military personnel have been killed since 2002, along with one Canadian diplomat.

More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from western and Afghan officials.

That is the worst total since the Taliban were pushed from power in late 2001.