US says 60 rebels dead in Afghan clashes

Taliban rebels have suffered heavy losses after launching attacks in southern Afghanistan with the US military saying yesterday about 60 insurgents have been killed in two battles in recent days.

In the latest clash, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol in Kandahar province killing nine government soldiers in the heaviest loss for the new national army in a single incident, the Defence Ministry said.

After the ambush on Wednesday, aircraft from Afghanistan's US-led international force attacked the rebels, a US military spokesman said.

"The initial report is that 20 insurgents were killed," said Lieutenant Cindy Moore.

In an earlier battle, in neighbouring Zabul province on Tuesday, 40 militants were killed in a clash with US and Afghan forces, the US military said.

If confirmed, the losses would be the heaviest for the Taliban since up to 50 of them were killed in a battle with US forces in Khost province, near the border with Pakistan, in August last year.

The Taliban attacks were the latest in a surge of rebel violence since a winter lull raised hope their insurgency might be fading.

More than 100 people, most of them militants but including several members of the 18,300-strong US-led force in Afghanistan, have been killed in the south and east since late March.