Kabul, January 28: An Afghan official says 15 militants were killed in a joint air and ground assault with NATO forces in northern Afghanistan.
“Fifteen Taliban militants were killed in joint operations conducted by NATO and Afghan forces Wednesday afternoon in Kuk Chenar district in central Baghlan,” said Kabir Andarabi, the provincial police chief, reported.
A militant commander was killed when the compound in the area was hit in the assault, he said.
However, Taliban claimed three Afghan forces were killed in the attack. Witnesses reported civilian casualties in the operation.
The news comes as the United Nations, in response to a request by President Hamid Karzai, has removed five former Taliban officials from its blacklist as part of reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.
The US has floated the idea of returning the Taliban into power, some eight years after the invasion.
Karzai is in London to encourage the West to fund a 500-million-dollar program to appease the Taliban. The plan has already won support from the West.
——Agencies