US troops have reportedly killed as many as 30 alleged insurgents in air strikes on Taliban forces who attacked an outpost in southeast Afghanistan today, the Nato-led coalition said.
Five US troops were wounded in the attack when the base in Paktika province came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades, gunfire and mortars, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and a regional army spokesman said.
"Insurgents attacked from all directions with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and mortar fire," ISAF said.
"Initial operational reporting indicates more than 30 insurgents were killed in the failed attack." US army major Patrick Seiber, a spokesman for the ISAF regional command in the east which includes Paktika, said at least 19 insurgents had been confirmed dead.
Nato-led forces were checking the area for more dead and wounded, he said. Afghan army general Zemarai, who has only one name, earlier said the bodies of at least 15 insurgents were seen lying on the battlefield after the attack.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Islamist group had attacked the base, claiming that six police outposts had been overrun in the assault.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, the spokesman said Taliban fighters had inflicted "high casualties" on ISAF and Afghan forces but gave no further details. He said eight Taliban fighters had been killed.
The Taliban often make exaggerated or unconfirmed claims about such attacks.
The Taliban and other insurgents such as the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network have launched a series of assaults on foreign bases and government buildings in the past year in a bid to topple president Hamid Karzai and force out foreign troops.
Afghanistan's insurgency has spread from the Taliban's heartland in the south and east to other parts of Afghanistan, including northern provinces and the western city of Herat, which had long been considered safer.
Reuters