American and Afghan troops killed nine suspected Islamic militants during a gun battle in the eastern province of Paktika, the US military said this morning, in one of the heaviest clashes reported in recent months.
In separate operations, 14 suspected rebels were detained in a US air assault in the east on Thursday and two senior Taliban commanders were captured by Afghan forces on yesterday after an attack on a post near the Pakistan border killed seven government soldiers.
The clash involving US forces yesterday began when they opened fire on a group of 30 to 40 armed men apparently trying to move to the side of their sniper position east of Orgun-E, 170 km south of Kabul, in order to launch an attack.
At least 10 US snipers from a special operations task force in Afghanistan were involved in the battle, supported by a nearby battalion of Afghan troops. The rest of the group of suspected guerrillas fled.
The clash was one of the largest reported in recent months between 13,000 US-led troops in Afghanistan and their local allies and Islamic militants from groups including the ousted Taliban militia and al Qaeda.
Remnants of the Taliban have declared a "jihad", or holy war, on foreign forces and their Afghan allies and aid organisations which has seriously undermined security and stability, especially in the south and east.
In a separate incident on Thursday, 14 suspected militants were captured at a compound north of the eastern town of Khost.