Afghanistan: At least 49 people were killed in southern Afghanistan in what is believed to be one of the deadliest clashes between the Taliban and hundreds of government troops since the hardline militia was ousted in 2001, officials said.
Clashes broke out on Tuesday when around 100 suspected Taliban fighters armed with rifles, machineguns and rocket-launchers attacked pro-government militiamen near the Taliban's former stronghold in Kandahar province.
Afghan officials said the heavily-armed fighters crossed from neighbouring Pakistan into Kandahar's south-east border region of Loikarez.
The mountainous frontier is believed to be the hideout of rebel fighters, loyal to the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the renegade Islamist warlord, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is blamed for attacks on Afghan and US-led coalition troops.
Forty suspected Taliban died in the latest attack, according Mr Sayed Fazzeludin Agha, head of the nearby Spin Boldak district. The Kandahar police chief, Gen Mohammad Akram, said nine pro-government militiamen were killed.
The attackers fled to nearby villages after killing one government militiaman in the first two hours of fighting, but battles resumed early on Wednesday.
Some 300-400 reinforcement troops sent from Spin Boldak killed most of the attackers, the Kandahar military commander, Gen Khan Mohammad said.
The assault was the biggest by suspected Taliban in Kandahar since early April, when US and pro-government forces killed around 28 rebels holed up in mountains near Spin Boldak.
"In total, 40 Taliban were killed. Nearly all of the enemy were wiped out," Mr Agha said. "The Taliban were very well equipped."
He said the extremists, led by Mullah Afez Abdul Rahim, had infiltrated from Pakistan. He said Rahim escaped, but his second-in-command was killed.
Mr Akram said 40 people, possibly including civilians, were killed by local government troops. Gen Mohammad, however, said they were all Taliban.There were no reports of further clashes yesterday, he added.
Wounded soldiers were handed over to US forces for medical treatment, although no American troops were involved in the fighting, he said.
Afghan authorities dumped the bodies of 22 of the suspected Taliban at Killi Faizu refugee camp just inside Pakistani territory, claiming the fighters came from Pakistan, officials said.
Pakistani frontier guards have lodged a protest and were negotiating with their Afghan counterparts to persuade them to take back the bodies, according to Pakistani officials in Quetta, 63 miles from the border. - (AFP)