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At Least 11 More Taliban Killed in Airstrikes NewsMax.com Wires KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- At least 11 suspected Taliban and possibly dozens more were killed by airstrikes on Taliban compounds Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, officials said. Elsewhere, Afghan border police and U.S.-led coalition forces were attacked in southern Zabul province on their way back from a humanitarian mission, leaving one coalition soldier dead, a U.S. military statement said. The soldier's identity was not immediately released. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said 11 Taliban were killed in the Zhari district of Kandahar province early Tuesday, although the provincial police chief said more than 60 suspected insurgents died, including three regional commanders. Many other suspected Taliban fighters were wounded in the airstrikes, which were carried out at 3 a.m., said Kandahar Police Chief Esmatullah Alizai. He said no civilians killed or wounded. Casualty tolls from remote battle sites in Afghanistan often vary widely, and the number of casualties could not be independently verified. Alizai said NATO forces carried out the airstrike, but NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it was unaware of any "airstrikes or significant operations" in Kandahar. The separate U.S.-led coalition also said it was not their operation. Alizai said the airstrikes were based on "good information," and several regional Taliban commanders were killed. The bodies were still being removed from under the mud and rubble of the bombed compounds. Story Continues Below
The violence comes days after the Taliban's top military commander, Mullah Dadullah, was killed in southern Afghanistan during a U.S.-led operation that also involved NATO and Afghan troops. Dadullah was killed in the Sangin area of Helmand province, which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks. Airstrikes last week near Sangin killed between 20 and 40 civilians, according to Afghan officials and villagers, the latest in a series of operations marred by civilian deaths that has weakened support for international forces. In Nuristan province, meanwhile, Afghan soldiers traveling in a truck hit a roadside bomb on Monday, killing seven soldiers and wounding three, the Defense Ministry said. Four other soldiers were missing after the attack. In eastern Paktika province, insurgents ambushed a police patrol early Tuesday, and the clash left two policemen and a suspected militant dead, said Ghamai Khan, a spokesman for the governor.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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