12 April,2009 03:08 PM IST | | Agencies
Afghan and international forces killed 22 Taliban insurgents in the troubled south of the country during several hours of fierce fighting, police said today.
The rebels ambushed a joint Afghan and foreign forces patrol in Shinkay district of Zabul province late yesterday, sparking the exchange, provincial police chief Abdul Rehman Sarjang said. "Twenty-two Taliban were killed. The militants left the bodies behind. Four are Pakistani nationals and the rest are Afghans," he said.
Sarjang added the international forces called in air support after the ambush. There were no casualties to the joint forces. His figure for the Taliban casualties could not be independently verified. The US military released a statement saying it had killed four Taliban in the same area, also on yesterday.
It was unclear if it was the same incident. There are more than 70,000 international troops under NATO and US command in Afghanistan helping in the fight against the insurgents. The Taliban rose from southern Afghanistan to sweep into government in Kabul in 1996. They were ousted in a US-led invasion in late 2001 that sent many of their leaders and Al-Qaeda allies into sanctuaries across in Pakistan.
