11 Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

11 Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan

2011-03-08 21:45:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

LASHKARGAH, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS): Afghan and NATO-led forces killed eleven Taliban insurgents in different operations in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, officials said on Tuesday.

Three Taliban fighters were killed and 14 others, including local Taliban commander Mullah Zarif Sajid, were detained on Monday during a joint operation by Afghan and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Musa Qala district, the governor's office said in a statement. Seven more Taliban insurgents surrendered their weapons in the district and joined the peace process, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

According to ISAF, a coalition forces patrol discovered a weapons cache consisting of one PK machine gun, 100 rounds of PKM ammunition, 18 82 mm mortar rounds, one anti-tank mine and two AK-47s in Musa Qala district.

Separately, five Taliban fighters were killed by a NATO-led airstrike in Sangin district, while another fighter was killed and one injured when the bomb they were planting detonated in Nawzad district. Two more Taliban fighters were killed on Monday during a clash with police in Nad Ali district, provincial police chief, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hakim Angar, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed that several Afghan and foreign soldiers had been killed as a result of explosions and attacks in different parts of Helmand. He didn't mention Taliban casualties.

Helmand, a major opium poppy-growing province, has been regarded as Taliban stronghold in the southern part of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghan National Security and ISAF captured three Haqqani network facilitators and detained several suspected insurgents during separate operations in Khost province also on Monday, according to a statement from ISAF. The Haqqani network is an insurgent group that is closely allied with the Taliban.

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