Afghan and Nato-led troops killed 50 to 60 Taliban fighters during an attack by insurgents on a base in a volatile south-eastern Afghan province near the border with Pakistan, a provincial government spokesman said on Wednesday. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there had been an attack on a base in the Barmal district of south-eastern Paktika province late on Tuesday.
Mukhlis Afghan, a spokesman for the Paktika governor, put the number of Taliban fighters killed at between 50 and 60. An ISAF spokesman said a large group of insurgents attacked the ISAF base using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. ISAF troops fought back, causing "significant" casualties among the insurgents.
He said two buildings used by insurgents were destroyed in the fighting, which included ISAF air strikes, but said there had been no reports of civilian or coalition casualties. Paktika province lies on the border with the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, where the Taliban and allied insurgents like the Haqqani network have safe havens from which they launch attacks into Afghanistan.
Paktika and neighbouring Paktia ands Zabul have been hit by a number of attacks this year. ISAF troops and Afghan special forces killed more than 50 insurgents in Paktika during an operation in July to clear a training camp that ISAF said the Haqqanis had been using as a base for foreign fighters.