Afghan, Nato operation kills 22 militants
Afp, Kandahar
An operation launched by Afghan and Nato troops following intelligence that Taliban fighters planned to block a major highway left 22 militants dead, a provincial official said yesterday. The rebels' bodies were left at the battle site after the military sweep in southern Zabul province, said provincial spokesman Gulabshah Alikhail. The operation was launched late Sunday after a tip-off that the men planned to block the highway between Kandahar city in the south and the capital Kabul, 460km away, Alikhail said. "Twenty-two Taliban were killed in the operation that ended early today. The Taliban bodies are still in the battlefield," he said. Nato's International Security Assistance Force did not immediately have details of the operation. Separately, a militant was arrested Sunday after being found with a remote control that police said had been used to detonate a bomb outside a district police headquarters in southeastern Paktia, the provincial police chief said.
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