Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.Massed Taliban attacks on major towns are rare, but an attempted assault on a provincial capital only four days after some 65 militants tried to do the same thing is an indication the Islamist movement has no shortage of recruits. "Dozens of Taliban fighters attacked Lashkar Gah in Helmand. Eighteen insurgents were killed during a four-hour gun battle," said Helmand police chief Asadullah Sherzad. "We believe this was the same group of insurgents and militants," said a spokesman for the British army in Helmand. "Their aims were similar to that of Saturday night," he said.
Afghan security forces took the primary role in both operations and the latest attack was also thwarted outside the city, the British military spokesman said. "They were much fewer in numbers and not as well coordinated as on Saturday," he said.
Elsewhere in Helmand, the provincial governor's spokesman said some 70 Taliban fighters were killed in an overnight air strike by foreign forces, but NATO said only a small group of Taliban commanders were targeted and killed in the strike.
It was not possible to independently verify any of the casualty figures due to poor security and lack of access to areas where fighting took place.