Afghan troops kill over 150 insurgents from Pakistan

The Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan border police and US special forces have killed more than 150 fighters, mostly Pakistanis, in a military operation in south eastern Paktika province, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"Last night, more than 350 fighters, most of them Pakistanis, entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, and attacked in the Barmal district of south-eastern Paktika province," Ghamai Khan Mohammed Yari told DPA in a telephone interview.

He said the ANA and border police, aided by a coalition airstrike, "counter-attacked the militants and after one hour's fighting, more than 150 insurgents were killed, most of them Pakistani nationals."

"A driver with a truck full of explosive materials also was arrested in Angoor Adah area of Barmal district by Afghan forces. The driver was from Multan area of Pakistan," Yari added.

A press release issued from ISAF headquarter in Kabul said that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) responded to an attack from militants Pakistan's Paktika province.

"ISAF's Task Force in Paktika province received multiple rocket attacks from militants inside Pakistan on July 15," the press release said.

ISAF troops identified the point of origin of the rocket attacks "and responded in self defence with a combination of fire from attack helicopters and artillery into Pakistan", it added.

The NATO-led ISAF press release did not mention anything about casualties in the military operation.

ISAF meanwhile abandoned a remote outpost days after militants forced their way inside and killed nine US soldiers, the military said Wednesday.

The ISAF and Afghan forces would still maintain a strong presence in the area and would continue regular patrols around the nearby village of Wanat in the north-eastern province of Kunar, a NATO statement said.

The militants used Wanat to launch Sunday's attack.

In a related development, ISAF forces also said they had killed a Taliban field commander in Kandahar province during an airstrike.

"(Mullah) Mahmoud is reported to have commanded more than 250 Taliban fighters and was responsible for many insurgent operations in Kandahar province," an ISAF statement said.

The statement said intelligence had shown several insurgent commanders meeting to regroup their forces and plan further attacks against the Arghandab district and Kandahar city.

"Afghan forces established observation of the area and called in an airstrike using ISAF aircraft," the statement said.

"Our troops have the initiative in Kandahar province," Brigadier General Denis Thompson, Commander of Task Force Kandahar, said.

In other developments, an ISAF soldier died of non-combat related causes in Parvan province on Wednesday, ISAF officials said. The nationality of the soldier was not given.

--DPAskp/mr

(481 Words)*16072039NNNN (IANS)

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