Sunday, October 12, 2008 - 07:00
AFP News Briefs ListUp to 60 militants said killed in Afghan strikes
Between 40 and 60 Taliban were killed in military action, including air strikes, after they attacked security forces in southern Afghanistan, officials and the NATO-led force said Sunday.
The militants had attacked an Afghan security force base on the outskirts of the town of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile southern province of Helmand, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
The attack was late Saturday, ISAF said. Afghan authorities said fighting started at midnight and lasted for around three hours.
Sixty-four Taliban were killed, said the spokesman for the Helmand government, Daud Ahmadi.
Helmand police chief Assadullah Shairzad said dozens of the attackers were killed but he could not yet give a number.
"ISAF forces took decisive action to interdict an attack by enemy forces against an ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) compound in Lashkar Gah," said an officer in the ISAF media office in Kabul.
"We conducted an air strike in which 42 members of the enemy forces were killed," she said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to release her name.
"At this time we are not aware of any civilian casualties or collateral damage," she said.
Images
US soldiers of the NATO-led force in Kabul in September 2008. Between 40 and 60 Taliban have been killed in military action, including air strikes, after they attacked security forces in southern Afghanistan, police and the NATO-led force have said.
© 2007 AFP Massoud Hossaini
