Afghan and foreign troops killed at least 10 militants in southern Afghanistan early Tuesday as two more rebels, a policeman and three nomads were reported killed in other attacks.
Troops with the Afghan army and the US-led coalition clashed with militants in the southern province of Helmand in an operation aimed at a "regional sub-commander" linked to notorious Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah.
The force also captured two militants and destroyed a small-arms cache, the coalition said in a statement. They had gone to a compound in the Sangin district, which has seen several clashes and is not in full government control, in search of the sub-commander "with direct ties to Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah Lang."
Militants hiding in nearby buildings attacked the troops with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) as they arrived. On their way out, they killed several people armed with mortars and RPGs attempting to fire from a series of trenches, the statement said.
It did not make clear if the targeted man was among the dead. In a separate incident, dozens of Taliban militants armed with machineguns and rockets attacked a police checkpost in the neighbouring province of Kandahar late Monday, the provincial police chief said.
Two Taliban bodies were found early Tuesday at the scene of the hour-long battle in restive Shahwali Kot district, police chief Ismatullah Alizai said. "One policeman was also martyred," he told AFP.
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