Nato and US forces killed 17 militants in Afghanistan

International military forces helping Afghanistan to fight Islamic extremists said Wednesday they had killed 17 militants in separate operations. The US military said troops under its command had killed 11 armed militants Tuesday in an operation against the radical Hizb-e-Islami faction led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the capital, Kabul.
The battle was fought in the Sarobi district, where militants killed 10 French soldiers in August in the deadliest ground battle for international soldiers since the invasion of Afghanistan by US-led forces in 2001. The US attack in Sarobi targeted a Hizb-e-Islami leader wanted for trafficking weapons and fighters and for carrying out attacks, the US military said in a statement.
The militants had opened fire on approaching troops, it said. "Coalition forces returned fire and killed two of the militants. "Still receiving fire, coalition forces engaged the militants with close-air precision munitions and killed the remaining nine militants," it said, referring to air strikes.
Weapons, ammunition and other military equipment found at the scene were destroyed, the statement said. Both Hizb-e-Islami and the extremist Taliban, who are leading an insurgency against the current government after they were deposed in the 2001 invasion, claimed responsibility for the attack on the French. Meanwhile, the separate Nato-led force said its aircraft on a combat-escort mission had spotted "eight insurgents with weapons moving into fighting positions" in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday. "The aircraft engaged the insurgents, killing six," it said.
There were allegations that some civilians were hurt in the strikes, the International Security Assistance Force said, adding that it was investigating, but it had clear evidence the aircraft fired at "enemy insurgents." Nearly 70,000 international soldiers have been deployed in Afghanistan under US and Nato command, to help the Kabul government tackle the extremists and build up its own security forces. After a difficult year, the United States has decided to send 20,000 to 30,000 more troops to the country in 2009.