40 insurgents killed in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR: Afghan and international forces killed 40 Taliban militants in separate battles in the troubled country, authorities said on Sunday.

In one incident, the rebels ambushed a joint Afghan and foreign forces patrol in Shinkay district of Zabul province late Saturday, sparking an exchange of gunfire, provincial police chief Abdul Rehman Sarjang said.

"Twenty-two Taliban were killed. The militants left the bodies behind. Four are Pakistani nationals and the rest are Afghans," he claimed.

Sarjang added the international forces called in air support after the ambush. There were no casualties to the joint forces.

The interior ministry gave the same toll in a statement.

But the US military said separately it had killed four Taliban in the same area, also on Saturday. It was unclear if it was the same incident.

Separately, troops killed 18 insurgents in the northeastern province of Kunar overnight, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.

The Afghan and ISAF forces had been able to identify the group as militants and ambushed them, an officer said.

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