10 insurgents killed in central Afghanistan battle

German foreign minister in Kabul for two days of talks with Afghan president and other leaders.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US afghanistan 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
US afghanistan 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
International and Afghan troops killed at least 10 insurgents Wednesday in a battle in central Afghanistan, US forces said. Meanwhile, Germany said its foreign minister was in Kabul for two days of talks with Afghanistan's president and other leaders. Further details were not immediately available. Wednesday's fighting erupted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Kabul when a patrol moved into a village in Logar province in the early morning to search out Taliban operatives, the US military said in a statement. Militants fired on the troops as they approached the targeted compounds. The Afghan and international forces killed two insurgent scouts as they moved forward and at least another eight as they approached the compounds. Two suspected Taliban insurgents were captured. No Afghan or coalition forces were injured, the military statement said. Taliban militants have gained strength as an insurgency after their radical Islamist regime was toppled by the 2001 US-led invasion. President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 additional US troops to the country to bolster the record 38,000 American forces already in the country. Elsewhere in the country, four would-be suicide bombers died in southern Ghazni province when their explosives detonated in the house they were staying in, said Sayed Ismail Jahangir, spokesman for Ghazni's governor. Jahangir said the men died Tuesday in what appeared to be an accidental explosion. He said the government had received reports that they were planning a suicide attack. Also Tuesday, Afghan and NATO troops shot dead a motorcyclist in central Wardak province when the driver sped toward a checkpoint despite repeated warnings to stop. NATO said in a statement that the troops first signaled, shouted to stop and then fired warning shots before shooting at the driver. The motorcyclist was flown to a hospital, where he died from his wounds. NATO said it is investigating the incident.