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Kandahar: Taliban militants launched a surprise attack on a key southern Afghan town, sparking a battle that killed about 60 insurgents, an Afghan official said on Sunday. A second clash in the same region killed another 40 militants.
Taliban fighters used rockets and other heavy weapons to attack Afghan forces on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.
Militants attacked the city from three sides starting just after midnight and were pushed back only after a battle that involved airstrikes, Ahmadi said. Rockets landed in different parts of the city but there were no civilian casualties, he said.
Nato said its aircraft bombed insurgents after they observed them gathering for a major attack, killing "multiple enemy forces," the military alliance said in a statement.
Gen. David McKiernan, head of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul that hundreds of insurgents had gathered for the attack.
Authorities recovered the bodies of 41 Taliban fighters on the city's outskirts, from where the attack was launched, he said. He estimated the bodies of another 20 fighters were taken from the battle site by the militants, citing intelligence reports.
In a second battle in Helmand province, Afghan and international troops retook the Nad Ali district centre - which had been held by militants - during a three-day fight, Ahmadi said. That battle, which also involved airstrikes, ended on Saturday, he said.
Afghan police and soldiers were now in control of the district centre. There were no casualties among Afghan or Nato troops, Ahmadi said.
Nato said it was aware of fighting in Helmand but could not provide any information.
A roadside bomb, meanwhile, struck a civilian vehicle traveling in the Shamulzai district of Zabul province on Sunday, killing five people, said Ghulab Shah Alikheil, a provincial official.
Alikheil blamed Taliban militants for planting the bomb.
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