Afghan and coalition forces have killed nine Taliban militants in two separate incidents in troubled southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday. Police ambushed a group of insurgents in the Grishk district of volatile Helmand province on Tuesday, killing five Taliban fighters and confiscating two vehicles, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.
Separately the Afghan military said four insurgents were killed and one Afghan soldier was wounded on Sunday in a sweep by Nato and Afghan forces in Helmand's Kajaki district.
The joint forces also arrested two insurgents in Kajaki and seized some light weapons. Kajaki is one of the focal points of a massive Nato and Afghan offensive launched on Tuesday. British troops have for weeks been trying to drive out Taliban from the area so work can begin to restore a major hydropower dam.
Meanwhile Afghan security forces on Sunday arrested a "group leader of enemies" named as Mullah Mahmood in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, where Nato and Taliban forces clashed last year.