[Dawn] Afghan and US-led soldiers killed 15 alleged militants in air strikes and mortar fire on Friday after coming under attack in southern Afghanistan, the US military said.The soldiers were driving to a village in the province of Zabul to talk to community elders about security issues when they came under gun attack from a compound, it said in a statement.
They fired back and killed one gunman but were attacked again while searching other compounds, it said.
'The Afghan-led force returned fire with mortars and called for close-air support to suppress the threat,' it said. 'The combined force pursued the militants into a nearby cave complex, killing 14 and wounding 12 others.' Another suspected militant was arrested, the statement said.
It was impossible to confirm independently who had been killed.
Southern Afghanistan is the main battleground for Taliban extremists fighting Afghan and foreign soldiers from about 40 nations who are serving under US and NATO command.
In Zabul most troops are US and Romanian.