By DPA,
Kabul : The US-led coalition said Saturday that its forces killed 10 militants, including foreign fighters, during an operation against an Al Qaeda-linked militant network in east-central Afghanistan.
The militants of the Haqqani network who were targeted Thursday in the Zadran district of Paktia province planted roadside bombs and coordinated suicide bombings and other attacks on coalition and Afghan forces in the area, the coalition said.
The Haqqani network is headed by its founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran mujahedin leader who fought against Soviet troops in the 1980s and an associate of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and his son Sarajuddin Haqqani.
Their group is also associated with the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Islamic fundamentalist former rulers who were ousted in a 2001 US-led invasion.
The Haqqani network is primarily active in eastern Afghanistan along its border with Pakistan and reportedly has good relations with Arab members of Al Qaeda.