By Xinhua,
Kabul : Afghan troops backed by the U.S.-led Coalition troops have eliminated several militants and arrested four suspected Taliban rebels in three separate battles in the war-battered Afghanistan, said the Coalition statement released here on Thursday.
Insurgents on Wednesday attacked the combined patrol of Afghan troops and Coalition forces in the Maywand district of southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, the statement said.
The patrol returned fire and called in air strike assistance, killing several insurgents, it said.
Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces, according to the statement, killed several militants on June 22 while on patrol in the Shinkay District of southern Afghan Zabul province.
The combined force encountered an enemy observation site with the armed militants on a ridgeline, while the patrol engaged with small-arms fire and killed the militants, it said.
Four AK-47s, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher and five Rocket Propelled Grenade rounds were recovered from the militants, it added.
In another incident happened in eastern Afghan province of Paktika, four suspected Taliban militants were detained including one commander during a Coalition forces operation to disrupt Taliban activities in Sar Hawza district on Wednesday, the statement said.
No Coalition forces, Afghan troops or civilian casualties occurred in the three battles above, it noted.
A total of 70,000 multi-national troops are deployed across Afghanistan under the flags of the NATO-led ISAF and the U.S.-led Coalition forces respectively for maintaining stability and helping in reconstruction.
Escalating insurgency and violent incidents have left around 2,000 people dead since January this year in the war-torn Afghanistan.