Scores of Taliban killed in Afghan battle: police

Sun Aug 20, 4:28 PM ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - More than 70 Taliban guerrillas have been killed in fighting with NATO and Afghan forces in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a provincial police official said on Sunday.

Four policemen were also killed in the battle in Panjwai district, southwest of Kandahar city, that erupted late on Saturday, said Panjwai police chief Neyaz Mohammad Sarhadi.

"So far, we've recovered the bodies of 72 Taliban," Sarhadi told Reuters.

He said the battle began when hundreds of Taliban attacked government headquarters in the district where clashes have erupted regularly since May when hundreds of Taliban were found to have infiltrated.

NATO aircraft were also involved in the fighting, he said.

A NATO spokesman, Major Scott Lundy, said the Taliban had suffered significant casualties. He said the NATO force had not suffered losses.

A Taliban spokesman told a Pakistan-based news agency 12 Taliban were killed and at least 30 NATO and government troops had died. NATO aircraft had killed many civilians, the spokesman told the Afghan Islamic Press.

Afghanistan is experiencing its worst violence since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. Although the insurgents are not in a position to defeat the Western-backed government, the war is sapping support for President Hamid Karzai, analysts say.

More than 1,800 people have been killed in violence this year, most of them militants but including more than 90 foreign troops. Four foreign soldiers were killed in clashes on Saturday.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense said.

"He died as a result of a contact on Sangin, northern Helmand province," a ministry spokesman told Reuters in London.

Three other British soldiers were wounded in the incident.

Most of the recent violence has been in the south where NATO assumed responsibility for security from a separate U.S.-led force last month.

The NATO mission, the biggest ground operation in its history, should allow the U.S. military to trim the size of its Afghan force.

There are now more than 35,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan confronting a resurgent Taliban fueled by funds from the drugs trade and support from international militant networks.

The war has hurt efforts to breathe life into the economy and undermined support for Karzai, who has led the country since the Taliban were ousted.

Karzai, in an Independence Day statement issued late on Saturday, said international forces at times made mistakes.

"Such mistakes incur losses to people and anger them. The campaign against terrorism should be arranged with the coordination of our security and defense authorities," he said.

Karzai has in the past made several similar calls.

U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.

(Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin Yousuf Azimy in KABUL)

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