U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces clashed with militants in southern Afghanistan and called in air strikes that killed dozens of insurgents, a coalition spokesman said Wednesday. The NATO-led force, meanwhile, said the number of attacks by militants on remote government facilities have dropped by half this year compared with 2006. Insurgents attacked the joint force with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades in Deh Rawood district, in Uruzgan province on Tuesday, before fleeing into a civilian home, the coalition said in a statement according to the Associated Press. «Shortly after the combined force determined the enemy's positions, four separate precision air strikes effectively eliminated the insurgents who were trying to reinforce the enemy positions,» the coalition said late Tuesday. Dozens of militants were killed during the operation, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. There were no reports of casualties among coalition and Afghan forces. More than 5,800 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, a record number, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.
