Several militants killed in clashes with Afghan, NATO forces (Roundup)

May 11, 2008, 13:32 GMT

Kabul - Afghan and NATO forces killed eight insurgents and captured four in combat operations in the south-eastern region, while several more militants were killed in separate clashes with coalition forces, officials said Sunday.

In Zurmat district of south-eastern province of Paktia, five militants were reported killed and three wounded in an Afghan army operation backed by NATO troops.

Niaz Mohammad Khalil, district administrative chief, said the operation began in the area after police found the bodies of two Afghan security forces members.

Khalil said one police officer and one army soldier had been kidnapped from their homes by militants during their holidays and were later killed.

In neighbouring Khost province, Afghan army and international forces killed three Taliban fighters in combat Saturday, regional army spokesman Colonel Mohammad Gul said.

Gul said four other militants were captured in the operation, with no casualties on the side of combined forces.

Meanwhile, US-led Coalition forces killed several militants and arrested eight in an operation in Sabari district of south-eastern province of Khost on Saturday, a US military statement said.

The target was militants involved in conducting roadside bomb attacks in the region, the statement said, adding that their head was among the arrested rebels.

In a separate operation by coalition forces also on Saturday, several Taliban insurgents were killed by coalition forces in Garmsir district of southern Helmand province, the statement said.

The operation was conducted against militants, who had links with foreign fighters and weapon smuggling in the province, it said. No coalition forces were hurt in the either of the operations.

In southern Kandahar province, police seized a car full of explosives and another vehicle used as guide, when the drivers tried to enter Kandahar city, the provincial capital, Sayed Agha Saqib, provincial police chief, said.

He said two Pakistanis and one Afghani were arrested from the cars and police discovered two roadside bombs in the province. The NATO- led Canadian forces defused the bombs, Saqib said.

Taliban militants, whose government was toppled in a US-led military invasion in late 2001, have waged a bloody war against the Afghan army and some 70,000 international forces in the country.

The insurgents also have heavily relied on the use of roadside and suicide attacks after they sustained heavy casualties in previous years during the conventional fighting, according to Afghan and foreign military officials.