Dozen rebels, two children killed

Afghan and US-led forces backed by air power clashed with Taliban insurgents Sunday in Afghanistan, killing more than a dozen rebels, officials said. About 10 insurgents were killed early Sunday when US-led warplanes pounded militant positions in the southern province of Helmand, the US military said.
A military spokesman told AFP that about 10 rebels had been killed. Four other rebels were killed overnight in a battle that erupted after they attacked a police post in the eastern province of Paktia, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told AFP.
Five other rebels were wounded in that attack, he added. Meanwhile two Afghan children were killed when a stray rocket hit their home late Saturday near a military base used by the US-led coalition in the troubled eastern province of Kunar, a local spokesman said.