Afghan and NATO forces have killed dozens of Taliban militants in an air and ground strike a day after three international soldiers were killed in rebel bombings.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry said ‘dozens of terrorists’ were killed in the yesterday’s operations in the southern province of Uruzgan, and their bodies remained on the ground.
The ministry did not give a number of dead because of a policy of not issuing a precise number but a high-ranking ministry official said on condition of anonymity that more than 40 Taliban were killed.
The dead included the man commanding the group, it said.
More than 40 weapons, including rockets and heavy machine guns, as well as a police vehicle were seized after the operation.
The Taliban, in government between 1996 and 2001, is waging an insurgency that is particularly active in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Islamic rebels are said to have some local support.
The mininstry said Afghan and foreign soldiers did not suffer any casualties in the operation - one of the deadliest reported for the insurgents this year.
