By Xinhua,
Kabul : At least 30 Taliban insurgents were killed by US-led coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.
The foreign troops targeted the militants’ hideouts in Matakhand district in eastern province of Paktika Tuesday night, killing about 30 militants, Ghamai Khan Mohammadyar, provincial government spokesman, said.
Musa Khan, the head of the provincial council of Paktika, told media that several civilians were among the victims of the night raids Tuesday.
The coalition forces, meanwhile, said that several militants were killed and 12 were detained Tuesday during the operation aimed at disrupting militant operations in Paktika province.
The operation conducted in Matakhand district also resulted in four civilian deaths and one civilian injury, the coalition forces said in a statement.
Escalating militancy-related conflicts in Afghanistan claimed more than 8,000 lives last year, the bloodiest since 2001 when the hard-line Taliban regime collapsed and the militants went into a years-long insurgency.