US warplanes kill 20 Taliban terrorists

American troops caught in a gunfight with Afghan militants called in air strikes in fighting that killed at least 20 Taliban rebels.

The battle was in the Arghistan district of Kandahar province, about 120 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, provincial military commander Khan Mohammed said.

American spokesman Lieut Colonel Tucker Mansager said a US-led patrol encountered a group of militants in the area after nightfall. Engaged in a firefight, the troops called in warplanes “for a show of force”.

“When that did not work, they used precision ordnance,” Mansager. “They were effective.”

He said no American soldiers were hurt and that troops were searching the area for enemy casualties.

Mansager said he had no information on the involvement of Afghan troops in the incident, but Khan said the airstrike followed an assault by about 150 of his men on a Taliban camp on a rough mountainside.

Khan said three Afghan soldiers were injured in the three-hour gunfight.

“After that, US warplanes came and started bombing the Taliban area,” Khan said. “US forces told us that they had seen the bodies of about 20 dead Taliban.”

The clash appeared to be the most deadly since American-led forces and insurgents stepped up operations in the spring, fuelling a spiral of violence that has left more than 350 people dead this year and cast a shadow over plans for national elections in September.