47 die in anti-Taliban clashes
Government troops laid siege to three towns in southern Afghanistan where remnants of the Taliban were hiding, engaging in a fierce gunbattle that left at least 40 Taliban fighters and seven soldiers dead, a senior official said.
The fighting broke out yesterday in Nimakai, a town 6 miles north of Spinboldak, District Chief Fazaluddin Agha said. It quickly spread to the nearby hamlets of Populzai and Hassanzai.
