| Most of them Taliban, but sadly not all... |
(KUNA) -- At least 15 people, including 12 militants, two British soldiers and their Afghan interpreter, were killed and four coalition soldiers were wounded in clashes between Taliban and Afghan-coalition forces in southern Afghanistan over the past 24 hours. A coalition statement on Sunday said the injured soldiers were in stable condition. Earlier, British military spokesman Captain Drew Gibson said the soldiers killed when the coalition forces' base was attacked in the Sangin district of Helmand province last night. Identities of the injured soldiers have not been disclosed. The fresh casualties have mounted the number of British soldiers killed in Helmand to five. Britain has taken charge of security in Helmand from the US-led coalition forces about two months back. The dead also include an Afghan interpreter working with the British forces.Meanwhile, police chief of the same province Nabi Mulakhel said a dozen Taliban had been killed in a clash with the Afghan and coalition forces in the same district last night. There is no statement from Taliban on the claim. The police chief did not mention whether he was referring to the same fighting in which the British soldiers were killed or it was a separate clash. The British forces also did not mention the killing of the 12 Taliban. Talking to journalists, Mulakhel said the fight erupted when insurgents attacked a joint patrol of the Afghan police and coalition forces in Sangin. He said the fight, that continued for three hours, left 12 Taliban dead, whose bodies were laying in the area. The recent clashes are part of the "Operation Mountain Thrust", the second phase of which was launched in the southern region on June 15. A day earlier, 10 people, including five coalition soldiers were wounded when their base at the Kandahar airport, came under rocket attack from the insurgents.