Two NATO soldiers, 24 Taliban killed in clashes in Afghanistan

Oct 26, 2007, 10:55 GMT

Kandahar - Two NATO soldiers were killed and three wounded in a clash with insurgents in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar while Afghan and coalition forces killed 24 Taliban fighters in two clashes in the south, officials said Friday.

A coalition airstrike on Friday killed at least 18 suspected Taliban in southern Zabul province, said Haji Fazil Bari, district chief of Deh Chopan, where the air raid took place.

After the bombardment, Afghan police went to Dozi village and recovered bodies of 18 Taliban, including foreign fighters, Bari said.

No Afghan or coalition forces were hurt in the operation, Bari said, adding, however, that a weapons cache belonging to Afghan forces was destroyed when a Taliban rocket slammed into it.

In a separate incident in Arghandab, another district in Zabul province that borders Deh Chopan, six Taliban militants were killed in a fight with Afghan security forces, Bari said.

Meanwhile, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said an ambush by suspected Taliban militants set off the firefight Thursday night that proved deadly for its soldiers in Kunar, which borders Pakistan.

The insurgents attacked a joint Afghan and ISAF foot patrol with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from multiple positions in the Korangal Valley, an ISAF statement said, adding that the joint force repelled the insurgent attack with return fire and air support.

The wounded soldiers, whose identities were withheld, were evacuated to ISAF medical facilities for treatment and were listed in stable condition.

The nationalities of the casualties were not released, but the majority of ISAF forces in the eastern region are US soldiers.

The statement said confirming the militants' casualties was difficult given the mountainous terrain.