Nineteen Taliban insurgents were killed in Nato airstrike and clashes with Afghan security forces in southern and eastern regions of the country, officials said Sunday.Eight suspected militants were killed when their vehicle was destroyed by a Nato warplane in Nawa district of southern Helmand province on Saturday, Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor said.
The Afghan intelligence agents had pinpointed the armed militants driving in a vehicle and then called in Nato's air support to take out the rebels, Ahmadi said.
Separately, at least six militants were killed after they attacked an Afghan police patrol in Dand district of southern Kandahar province, Abdullah Khan, deputy provincial police chief said.
Two Afghan policemen were wounded in the ambush, he said, adding that police later called for reinforcements and the militants were killed when joint Afghan and Nato forces engaged them with small arms and artillery fires. Afghan army troops meanwhile killed five rebels and arrested 12, including four wounded militants, in a clash in Sabari district of south-eastern province of Khost on Saturday, a defence ministry statement said.
The clash was triggered after the troops were attacked by the militants in the area, it said, adding that there were no casualties among the Afghan soldiers. Taliban-led insurgents are most active in the country's southern and eastern provinces which have a long and porous border with Pakistan.