Thirty suspected Taliban militants were killed by Afghan forces and a NATO airstrike in the northern province of Baghlan, the provincial governor said Tuesday, DPA reported.
Afghan police and soldiers clashed with a large number of insurgents in Ahmadzai village in Danah-e-Ghori after they began a "clearing operation" Monday morning, Munshi Abdul Majeed said.
NATO bombed the insurgents, who were entrenched in outer areas of the village, he said, adding that "at least 30 Taliban fighters were killed in ground fighting and an airstrike."
A rocket fired by NATO aircraft destroyed a school, but there were no immediate claims of civilian casualties, the governor said.
There were no casualties among the Afghan forces, Majeed added.
The militants are active in several districts in Baghlan and the neighbouring province of Kunduz, which are located in the otherwise peaceful north. The Taliban are most active the southern and eastern regions.
NATO and Afghan forces began a major operation in the northern provinces in September aimed at rooting out the militants from the region.
...