US forces kill 18 Afghan rebels in heavy fighting

ABOUT 200 US special forces and their allies were battling rebels in southeast Afghanistan yesterday in the heaviest fighting since Operation Anaconda nine months ago.

At least 18 of the rebel fighters were killed. There were no coalition casualties, a US military official said.

“It is the largest concentration of enemy forces since Operation Anaconda,” US military spokesman Roger King confirmed at Bagram Air Base.