US and Afghan forces have killed up to 50 Taliban fighters in attacks in the central province of Uruzgan, the provincial governor said today.
A major Taliban ammunition depot was destroyed during the fighting late yesterday in Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan, and 25 Taliban guerrillas were captured, Governor Jan Mohammad Khan said.
"We have suffered some losses too, but I do not know how many," he said.
A US military spokeswoman was able to confirm that a US soldier, an Afghan soldier and 11 rebels were killed. Three US troops and one Afghan soldier were also wounded, she said.
Governor Jan Mohammad Khan
US fighter jets and attack helicopters responded to a rebel attack on a patrol that sparked the battle.
In fighting elsewhere, police arrested 10 suspected Taliban insurgents after clashes in south-eastern Zabul province. In neighbouring Kandahar province, Taliban guerrillas attacked an Afghan patrol last night, triggering a gun battle that left an Afghan soldier dead and a police officer badly wounded.
In eastern Paktika province today, a candidate in the upcoming elections was killed when a roadside bomb blew up next to his vehicle as he was taking his sick mother to hospital. His mother was wounded.
The latest fighting comes three days after the US military operational commander in Afghanistan said fighting in recent months had devastated the ranks of the Taliban.
More than 800 people have been killed in a major upsurge in violence since March, and US and Afghan officials have warned it may threaten the parliamentary elections on September 18th.
Agencies