Sixty rebels dead in Afghan clashes

KABUL - Taleban rebels have suffered heavy losses after launching attacks in southern Afghanistan with the US military saying about 60 insurgents have been killed in two battles in recent days.

In the latest clash, Taleban insurgents ambushed a patrol in Kandahar province killing nine government soldiers in the heaviest loss for the new national army in a single incident, the Defence Ministry said.

After the ambush on Wednesday, aircraft from Afghanistan's US-led international force attacked the rebels, a US military spokeswoman said.

"The initial report is that 20 insurgents were killed," said Lieutenant Cindy Moore.

In an earlier battle, in neighbouring Zabul province on Tuesday, 40 militants were killed in a clash with US and Afghan forces, the US military said.

If confirmed, the losses would be the heaviest for the Taleban since up to 50 of them were killed in a battle with US forces in Khost province, near the border with Pakistan, in August last year.

The Taleban attacks were the latest in a surge of rebel violence since a winter lull raised hope their insurgency might be fading.

More than 100 people, most of them militants but including several members of the 18,300-strong US-led force in Afghanistan, have been killed in the south and east since late March.

Initially, the US military said 20 rebels had been killed in the Zabul battle, which began when Taleban attacked police and US troops. One Afghan police officer was killed.

Aircraft of the US-led force were also involved in the Zabul fighting and the initial casualty figure was doubled after closer inspection of the battlefield, a US military official said.

Seven US personnel and nine Afghan security men have been wounded in the clashes.

US and Afghan opposition forces drove the Taleban from power in late 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The insurgents failed to disrupt a presidential election in October, won by US-backed Hamid Karzai, but the latest violence will add to concern about security for a September parliamentary vote.

- REUTERS