Taliban killed in checkpoint clash
Suspected Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint manned by Afghan troops in a clash that left eight militants dead and one Afghan guard wounded.
A statement from the US-led coalition said Afghan troops were manning a checkpoint in the southern province of Uruzgan when a large group of militants attacked their compound on Thursday.
“Afghan security guards aggressively fought off the attacking Taliban force in a pitched battle, killing eight Taliban fighters during a six-hour fire fight,” it said.
The incident could not be independently verified, due to the remoteness of the area.
Separately, coalition and Afghan troops yesterday detained a suspected local Taliban leader who was reportedly involved in an assassination attempt on a powerful tribal elder in Kandahar province on March 9, a coalition statement said.
The militant, who was not named, was arrested alongside two other men in the southern village of Maranjan, in Kandahar province.
