Afghan and the U.S.-led Coalition Forces killed 12 militants Friday night during a raid of a militant location in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, said a Coalition statement issued here on Saturday.
The combined forces, in an effort to further degrade bomb- making and facilitation networks in northern Helmand, targeted a compound in Nahr Surk district where they engaged militants, killing 12, the statement said.
"One child received a minor injury during the engagement and received immediate care from a Coalition medic," it said.
While in another incident on Friday, one soldier with Afghan National Army (ANA) killed two service members of Coalition forces and wounded another one in north Afghanistan, said the Coalition statement, reported Xinhua.
"The ANA soldier reportedly killed himself immediately after the incident," it said.
Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak said the incident was under full investigation and "it is too early to speculate and full corrective action will be taken." "Names, nationalities, and service components of the Coalition service members killed and those wounded in the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin," the statement said.
Conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency had left over 5,000 people, with some 2,000 civilians, dead in 2008 while the violence is predicted to go up in 2009 as U.S. government has announced sending additional troops for curbing the militancy in the post- Taliban central Asian state.