Afghan troops kill eight suspected Taliban men

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Suspected Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint manned by Afghan troops, leaving eight militants dead and an Afghan guard wounded, a statement from the US-led coalition said Saturday. Afghan troops had been manning a checkpoint in the southern province of Uruzgan when a large group of militants attacked their compound Thursday, the statement said. "Afghan security guards aggressively fought off the attacking Taliban force in a pitched battle, killing eight Taliban fighters during a six-hour fire fight," it said. The incident could not be independently verified, due to the area's remoteness. Separately, on Friday coalition and Afghan troops in southern Afghanistan detained a suspected local Taliban leader who had reportedly been involved in a March 9 assassination attempt on a powerful tribal elder in Kandahar province, a coalition statement said.