 More than 20 suspected Taliban insurgents - including five foreigners - were killed in recent clashes with Afghan and US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, a defense ministry spokesman said on Sunday. The militants had attacked Afghan National Army units at two locations in southeastern Khost province on Thursday and Friday, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen Mohammed Zaher Azimi said. The attacks prompted a counteroffensive by Afghan troops backed by coalition air strikes that left more than 20 Taliban insurgents dead, he told a news conference. The victims, whose bodies were collected by Afghan soldiers, included three men from Chechnya and two from Uzbekistan. Their nationalities were revealed on documents found with the bodies, Azimi said. One Afghan soldier was also killed, he added. A US military spokeswoman was not available for comment. Earlier, the US military said in a statement that four American troops were wounded Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Paktika province. |