More than 30 Taliban militants drowned when a boat sank in southern Afghanistan, the defence ministry said Tuesday, as the coalition force said two dozen more were killed elsewhere.
The boat sank after coming under fire from soldiers as it crossed the Helmand River on Monday carrying Taliban fighters escaping military operations, the defence ministry said. It was the second such incident since Friday, when the ministry has said another Taliban boat sank in similar circumstances, drowning 60 rebel fighters.
In Monday's incident Afghan soldiers backed by foreign troops fired on the makeshift boat as it crossed the river, which travels through the southern province of Helmand, a ministry spokesman said. "Over 30 Taliban were on board and all of them drowned and died," General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. The bodies had not been recovered, he said. There was no other confirmation of the tolls for either of the sinkings.