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Afghan forces kill 41 suspected Taliban

"We saw the 41 bodies of Taliban at the end of the fighting, but we collected only 11."

Asadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar Province

Afghan security forces backed by US-led coalition helicopters attacked a suspected Taliban hideout in southern Afghanistan, sparking an intense gunbattle that left 41 rebels and six police officers dead, a provincial governor said yesterday.

Nine police and several militants were also wounded in Friday's fighting in Sangisar, a town 40km southwest of Kandahar, said Asadullah Khalid, the provincial governor.

"Acting on intelligence reports that Taliban have gathered in Sangisar to plan an attack in Kandahar, we launched this operation on Friday and the fighting continued from morning to evening," he said.

Khalid said although major fighting in the area had ended and the situation was under control, a search operation was still ongoing to capture some Taliban who had fled to a nearby village.

"We have information that some Taliban managed to escape after suffering a defeat, and our police and soldiers are looking for them," he said.

Khalid said their forces had only collected 11 bodies out of the 41 dead fighters.

"We saw the 41 bodies of Taliban at the end of the fighting, but we collected only 11," he said, refusing to elaborate on why the other bodies weren't retrieved.

There was no immediate comment yesterday from the coalition about the fighting.

On Friday, a military spokesman in Kandahar Province, Canadian Major Quentin Innis, had said coalition helicopters patrolled overhead during the engagement in Sangisar, but he provided no further details.

A reporter in Sangisar on Friday saw helicopters launch missiles but couldn't see if the barrage caused casualties.

Kandahar used to be the stronghold of the Taliban until late 2001 when their government was ousted as a result of US-led attacks.

Since then, Taliban have been targeting coalition and Afghan forces, and have stepped up attacks over the past year, threatening the country's development and progress toward democracy.

Fighting has escalated in recent weeks as spring weather has melted snow that was blocking mountains passes used by the militants.

On Friday, a roadside bomb killed three Afghan soldiers in eastern Khost province, and a suicide car bombing wounded three British troops in the southern province of Helmand.

Also this week, coalition and Afghan forces launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation Mountain Lion, in eastern Kunar province where militants from Taliban, al-Qaeda and other groups are active.
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