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KABUL - A boat with about 60 people on board sank in a river in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the Afghan Defence Ministry said overnight.
A ministry spokesman said authorities were trying to determine whether anyone had died in the capsize on the Helmand River and whether any Taleban fighters were on board.
Helmand has been the scene of some of the worst fighting in recent months between Western forces and Taleban guerrillas. A Nato helicopter crashed, possibly as a result of enemy fire, in the province on Wednesday, killing seven soldiers.
Western and Afghan forces launched a major operation in Helmand this week, aimed at trapping Taleban guerrillas around the Sangin Valley and in the area of the Kajaki dam, a critical hydro-electric project.
About 2000 Nato, Afghan and US troops were involved in the operation in Helmand, a traditional Taleban stronghold and Afghanistan's biggest opium poppy growing region.
The Defence Ministry said on Saturday that 20 enemy fighters had been killed in the operation. British officials put the Taleban toll in the dozens.
Two Afghan soldiers were killed and two wounded in the operation, the ministry said.
In Ghazni province, five relatives of a well-known local militia commander were killed when Taleban guerrillas attacked his home in the Jaghori district on Friday, according to Ghazni governor Merajuddin Patan.
The militants killed the wife, two sons and two nephews of Bashi Habibullah, Patan said.
Police killed 10 Taleban in an ensuing clash, he said.
- REUTERS
