An Afghan provincial official claimed on Wednesday that army forces killed 14 suspected Taliban, including some foreign fighters, in southern Afghanistan, while two NATO soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed in an explosion in the same region, according to dpa. The militants were killed in a clash with Afghan soldiers in the Khaki Afghan district of the southern province of Zabul on Tuesday night, Gulob Shah Alikhail, the provincial deputy governor, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "Seven of the 14 militants killed in this operation were Pakistani nationals and their bodies are on the battlefield," Alikhail said, adding that there were no casualties on the side of Afghan forces. The operation was conducted after the security forces in the area got intelligence information regarding the presence of militants in the area, he said, adding several "modern weapons" were also seized from the dead militants. Meanwhile two NATO-led soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed and two other soldiers wounded in an explosion in the southern province of Ghazni, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. One soldier was killed on the spot, while two wounded soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital for treatment, where one of them succumbed to his injuries, it said. The statement did not disclose the nationality of the soldiers, citing ISAF policy. On Monday, two ISAF soldiers were killed in separate incidents in southern Helmand province. The British Defence Ministry confirmed that one of those killed was a soldier working in the Garmsir district of the province. Meanwhile, US-led coalition forces detained six suspected Taliban militants in a joint operation with Afghan forces in south-eastern Khost province, the US military said in a statement. The operation in the Sabari district of the province targeted a Taliban militant who was responsible for several roadside bomb attacks in the region, it said. Several weapons and explosives were discovered during the operation, it added. Taliban-led violence is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of about 70,000 international troops in the country.
