related violence since March, including 30 U.S. troops, hundreds of guerrillas, and dozens of members of the Afghan security forces. Afghan officials have reported at least 50 other deaths, more than half of them of guerrillas, in Taliban-related violence in the restive south and east in the past three days alone. On Saturday, the governor of Uruzgan province said police killed 18 Taliban guerrillas and lost two of their own men in fresh fighting there on Friday night. Earlier, a spokesman for the U.S. military said U.S. aircraft attacked a militant compound on Friday in Kunar province, where a search for a missing U.S. reconnaissance team has been under way. Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O'Hara said had no information to support a Taliban claim that the strike had killed 25 civilians. The U.S. team has been missing since Tuesday, when insurgents shot down a helicopter bringing Special Forces troops to their aid, killing all 16 aboard. The casualties were the heaviest in any combat incident for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since they overthrew the Taliban in 2001. The remains of the troops killed -- eight from airborne Special Forces units and eight Navy Seal commandos -- were flown to the United States on Friday night. --More 1918 Local Time 1618 GMT
