At least 94 suspected Taliban insurgents were killed overnight Sunday by international and Afghan forces in southern Kandahar province, a NATO statment said, according to DPA. In the joint operation by Afghan forces and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) known as Operation Medusa, 94 insurgents were killed and 1 was wounded in four separate battles overnight Sunday, the statement added. Operation Medusa was originally launched eight days ago to flush out Taliban fighters from Panjwayi and Zhari districts in the southern province of Kandahar, and according to NATO figures, more than 420 Taliban fighter have lost their lives in the fighting. At least 20 NATO troops have been killed since the start of the operation, with 14 British troops dying in the crash of a reconnaissance aircraft last week. Meanwhile, the governor of the south-eastern province of Paktia was killed with his assistant and a bodyguard in a suicide attack at the gate of his office on Sunday, official said. The attacker approached the men and detonated his belt packed with explosives. Three policemen were also inuured, interior ministry spokesman Yusouf Stanizai said. The attack came two days after 16 people including two US soldiers were killed and 31 were injured in a Kabul suicide attack aimed at a US military convoy next to the US embassy.
