US: 50 Taliban killed in s. Afghanistan battle

US-led coalition forces and Afghan troops clashed with militants in southern Afghanistan overnight, leaving more than 50 suspected Taliban dead, the coalition said Thursday. The 12-hour-long battle that ended early Thursday targeted 16 compounds from where militants had been attacking the troops in Helmand province and included airstrikes, said the coalition in a statement. "Coalition air support dropped two bombs on the compounds with the greatest concentration of insurgents," the statement said. "Both compounds produced significant secondary explosions immediately suggesting a large quantity of explosive material was present in each."