KABUL, 7 March 2004 — US-led forces in Afghanistan have killed nine suspected militants and captured 14 others in two separate operations in troubled southeastern Afghanistan, a US military spokesman said yesterday. The nine suspected Taleban fighters were killed Friday near a coalition base in the town of Orgun near the Pakistani border when they “attempted to flank” the base, Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty told journalists in Kabul.

“Friday, a platoon-sized (around 40) enemy unit attempted to flank a coalition position east of Orgun,” he said. “We engaged the unit, killing nine anti-coalition militia,” Hilferty said, adding that there were no coalition casualties during the clash.

Hilferty said troops from Afghan National Army were also involved in the operation against the militants, who numbered around 40 and were armed with light weapons.

“We fired on them, then we pursued them with the Afghan National Army Kandah (battalion), nine of them were killed in that battle,” the colonel said.

Separately, 14 suspects were captured Thursday in neighboring Khost province during a US air assault on a compound north of Khost city, Hilferty said.

He said that there was no exchange of fire between US-led soldiers and the suspects. He said some 100 mortar rounds and other ammunition were seized from the compound. The detainees were under interrogation at an undisclosed location.

Orgun, less than 20 kilometers from the Pakistani border and Khost along the troubled Afghan-Pakistani frontier, have been hard hit by a wave of violence, usually blamed on remnants of Taleban.

More than two years after the Taleban regime was smashed by a US-led campaign in late 2001, the remnants of the toppled regime still carry out regular attacks against foreign and pro-government troops as well as aid workers.

One Turkish road engineer was killed on Friday and another abducted by militants in southeastern Zabul province. Their Afghan guard was also killed while their driver, who was injured, was abducted.

Hilferty said that the US-led forces were not involved in the investigations to find the culprits but were assisting the Afghan government by providing intelligence.

“...We are passing our information to the Ministry of Interior who has the lead on this investigation,” he said. The US-led forces recently expressed optimism that they would capture Al-Qaeda terror network chief Osama Bin Laden and Taleban’s Mulla Mohammad Omar “within this year.”

About 13,000 US-led troops are stationed in Afghanistan hunting for Taleban loyalists and their allies in the Al-Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, residents of two eastern Afghan hamlets, Pacheer and Agamm, denied that American forces had entered the area as part of an operation against the Taleban and Al-Qaeda fugitives in Tora Bora caves, Afghan Islamic Press reported.

Tora Bora is a part of a mountain range called White Mountain, some 40 kilometers south of Jalalabad, capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province. Tribal chiefs and government officials met in Khost this week to iron out factional disputes and improve security in troubled southeastern Afghanistan, participants said yesterday.

The meeting Wednesday drew together some 40 delegates, including tribal elders from Khost and the neighboring Paktia provinces, Khost governor Abdul Hakim Taniwal told AFP.

“The meeting was very important and we hope after this there will not be any problem between tribes - we hope the security will improve,” Taniwal said. Delegates also agreed to provide security along the 70-kilometer Gardez-Khost road which links Paktia and Khost, he said.

“The tribes which live along the road will be responsible for the security of that portion where they live,” he said. The delegates also decided to fine tribes who breached agreements reached during the meeting up to 100,000 afghanis ($1,500), Taniwal said.