Past week proves deadly for Taliban as over 70 militants killed in Afghanistan

By Abdul Haleem

KABUL, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The past week has proved deadly for Taliban militants in Afghanistan as over 70 of the outfit's fighters including some commanders have been killed.

In the latest wave of conflicts with security forces, six Taliban fighters were killed as they came in contact with troops in Badghis province of northern Afghanistan Sunday afternoon.

"Taliban rebels attacked a convoy of NATO-led forces on the road leading to provincial capital Qalai Now today at 03:00 p.m. local time (1030 GMT) and troops returned fire killing six militants including their commander Mullah Abdul Hakim," military spokesman in the region Abdul Basir Ghori told Xinhua.

On Saturday eight militants were killed during a joint operation of Afghan and NATO troops in the southern Uruzgan province while three others had been arrested on the same day in the northern Baghlan province.

On Friday, three more suspected insurgents were arrested and their leader Sibghatullah was killed in a gun battle with police, according to an Interior Ministry press release issued on Sunday

Also on Friday, according to Hamidullah Zhawak, the spokesman of the provincial administration in the eastern Paktika province, more than 20 suspected Taliban insurgents were killed as NATO aircraft pounded their hideouts in Urgon district.

Seven more insurgents, according to Zhawak, had been arrested on the same day.