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7 insurgents killed in operation in E. Afghanistan

17 March 2012 17:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Seven insurgents were killed during a joint operation in eastern Afghan province of Kunar on Saturday, a source said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Based on intelligence, a unit of special operation forces of Afghan soldiers and NATO-led coalition troops raided a compound in Marawara district over night killing seven armed insurgents," Sabawoon Hotak, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern region, told Xinhua.

He said two suspected militants including a Taliban local leader was also captured in the raid in the province bordering Pakistan.

Meantime, a Taliban purported spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told local media that eight Taliban fighters have been killed in Kunar but claimed some casualties on Afghan and foreign forces.

Afghan forces and ISAF troops have intensified cleanup operations throughout the post-Taliban country recently. Over 260 insurgents have been killed and more than 730 others detained in the country since the beginning of this year, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.

Kunar and neighboring Nuristan province have been regarded as Taliban hotbed in eastern part of militancy-hit country.