By NNN-Xinhua,
Kandahar, Afghanistan : Afghan troops in the latest operation against Taliban rebels Sunday night killed eight rebels in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, said Sher Mohammad Zazi, the commander of south region, on Monday.
Zazi told Xinhua that Afghan forces conducted a raid on Taliban hideout in the Jamgi area of Helmand late Sunday night and eliminated at least eight insurgents after hours of fighting.
“One suspected Taliban insurgent was also arrested during the operation,” he added. “No casualty of Afghan troops was reported so far.”
Meantime, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman, admitted there was a clash between the outfits and government troops, but he denied any loss of Taliban side.
Conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency had left over 5,000 people, with some 2,000 civilians dead, in 2008 while the violence is predicted to go up in 2009 as U.S. government has announced reinforcement of 30,000 more troops for curbing the militancy in the post-Taliban central Asian state.