85 killed in US-led offensive against Taliban insurgents

AFGHAN and coalition troops, pushing ahead with their largest offensive since the ousting of the Taliban five years ago, have killed about 85 suspected insurgents in targeted attacks over the past few days in southern Afghanistan.

About 10,000 US-led troops have spread out over four southern provinces as part of Operation Mountain Thrust, a counter-insurgency blitz aimed at quelling a Taliban resurgence.

An estimated 40 fighters were killed on Friday when coalition forces surprised militants as they gathered at a “known enemy camp” in Khod Valley.

In a separate incident, Afghan and coalition forces conducted a raid on a Taliban compound near Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan, killing five insurgents, the US military said. They also seized about 8lb of opium.

One US soldier was wounded in the raid.

Meanwhile, two coalition soldiers were killed on Friday in eastern Kunar province by a roadside bomb as they conducted a security sweep of the area.

On Friday, coalition forces said they killed an estimated 40 militants in a remote, mountainous area of south eastern Paktika province.

Violence continued yesterday as a suicide attacker on a motorcycle detonated his explosives near a group of Afghan soldiers in south western Nimroz province, killing himself and wounding two soldiers and three bystanders.

Seven militants and one policeman were killed during a gun battle in southern Kandahar.