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US: 15 militants killed in Afghan clash
[May 01, 2009] KABUL (AP) -- International and Afghan forces killed 15 militants in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the U.S. military said.
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Gunmen attacked the troops' convoy as they traveled to a village to talk to elders about security, the military said in a statement. The troops killed one militant in the initial clash and another 14 as they pursued insurgents who were firing on them from a nearby hillside, it said. No Afghan army or international forces were wounded and no civilian casualties were reported, the statement said. The Taliban have vowed to increase ambushes and other attacks as an additional 21,000 U.S. troops flood into Afghanistan this summer in response to already-rising militant attacks. Many of the new forces are going to the south, where the Taliban have effective control over large regions. Separately Friday, the Defense Ministry said three Afghan army soldiers were killed in overnight fighting with insurgents in eastern Kunar province, another volatile part of the country. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the troops were manning a checkpoint that insurgents attacked late Thursday. He said he had reports of heavy casualties on the militant side, but did not have figures. |
