KABUL: A four-day battle that began with an ambush on a joint U.S-Afghan patrol in southern Afghanistan has killed more than 100 Taleban soldiers, the coalition said yesterday.
Taleban soldiers wielding rocket-propelled grenades, guns and mortars attacked the joint patrol in the southern province of Helmand multiple times starting on Monday, the coalition said. The combined force called in fighter aircraft for support.
Capt. Scott Miller, a coalition spokesman, said he couldn’t provide further details, including a more precise location of the fighting, because the battle was continuing. The coalition statement said no Afghan, coalition or civilian casualties had been reported.
The large death toll comes about one week after the US said it killed 25 Taleban soldiers and five civilians during an operation in the Shindand district of Herat province.
Afghan officials, however, say between 76 and 90 Afghan civilians were killed in that operation last Friday. The US is investigating and plans to make its findings public.
