05/07/2006: Coalition forces killed about 35 militants during a raid on a Taliban compound in southern Afghanistan, the military said today. The attack occurred last night in the village of Gujdar about 15 miles east of Musa Qala in southern Helmand province, a statement said.“Several of the extremists killed were area Taliban leaders who planned and conducted multiple attacks against local Afghans, government officials and coalition forces,” the statement said. No coalition forces or civilians were injured during the fighting.
Additional: US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed 35 rebels in a single strike on a "known Taliban compound" in the south of the country, while three more were killed separately. Troops struck the compound in Helmand province late Tuesday, "killing an estimated 35 extremists while they met at a Taliban compound in the village of Ghach Zar", a coalition statement said Wednesday.
"Several of the extremists killed were area Taliban leaders who planned and conducted multiple attacks against local Afghans, government officials and coalition forces," it said. The Taliban claimed civilian casualties in the strike, but the coalition said, "no injuries to coalition forces or non-combatants were observed during the strike."
Police in nearby Zabul province said meanwhile that they had killed three Taliban in a battle on Wednesday in which an Afghan soldier was also killed.
"This morning Afghan National Army (ANA) and national police came in contact with a group of Taliban," Zabul police chief Noor Mohammad Pakteen said. "One ANA soldier was killed and three others were wounded. Three Taliban were also killed in the fighting. Their bodies are still left on the ground," he said.
"Afghan National Army and coalition forces will continue the relentless pursuit of extremists operating in southern Afghanistan," a coalition spokesman said.