The US military said Sunday that its troops working with Afghan soldiers had killed 15 insurgents in operations in southern Afghanistan, where the extremist Taliban hold some ground. Fourteen of the men were killed in ground fighting and air strikes in Zabul province in an "area of known militant presence," it said in a statement.
Troops also found and destroyed a cache of materials for making bombs in a cave complex, it said. Another militant was killed and eight arrested late Saturday in an operation in the adjoining province of Kandahar, a separate statement said.
Troops had gone to an area north-east of Kandahar city to bring down a Taliban cell linked to bombings in March that killed four Canadian troops, it said. Southern Afghanistan is the main battlefield between troops and insurgents from the Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to send 17,000 more soldiers to southern Afghanistan in the coming months to work with about 23,000 troops from several already operating in the vast area under a Nato-led force.
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