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Police Say 100 Militants Killed, 50 Wounded In Southern Afghanistan


File photo of a militant attack along the Afghanitan, Pakistan border in Kandahar province.
File photo of a militant attack along the Afghanitan, Pakistan border in Kandahar province.

Afghan police say about 100 Taliban fighters were killed and nearly 50 wounded in a special military operation backed by NATO air support in the southern province of Kandahar.

Kandahar police spokesman Zia Durrani said on October 9 the operation by Afghan border police was launched overnight after dozens of insurgents crossed into Kandahar's Shorabak district from neighboring Pakistan.

"We had intelligence indicating the militants were crossing into Afghanistan, and we were prepared," Durrani told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan.

Durrani said dozens of motorcycles and other vehicles, explosives, and equipment belonging to the militants were destroyed during the operation.

He said Afghan forces suffered no casualties.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

The operation comes as NATO defense ministers said the alliance was open to keeping more troops in Afghanistan than initially planned.

Under the current plan, the United States would reduce its troop levels to 1,000 after 2016, but that is under review, with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, pushing for a larger military presence.

With reporting by pajwok.com
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