Eight Taliban-linked militants were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and US-led forces in volatile southern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said Saturday. The rebels were killed on Friday in Helmand province, which sees some of the worst violence of the insurgency waged by Taliban fighters since the hard-line movement was ousted from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001.
Most of the districts in Helmand are said to be under the control of the rebels. The province is also Afghanistan's primary opium-growing region. "In a joint operation by Afghan national police, national army and coalition forces in Helmand... eight of the enemies of peace and stability were killed," the interior ministry said in a statement.
Five other militants were wounded in the battle in Nad Ali district, it added. Elsewhere in the province, one rebel was killed when a bomb he was planting alongside a road exploded prematurely, the ministry said. More than 70,000 international troops are deployed in Afghanistan to help Kabul quell insurgent violence, which has claimed thousands of lives and hindered the internationally-backed reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.