Up to 50 Taliban fighters have reportedly been killed in a large air and ground operation by US and Afghan forces against hundreds of guerrillas today in the southern province of Zabul, a spokesman for the governor said.
"The deaths were the result of heavy bombing by US forces and ground attacks by government forces," Mr Hamdullah Watandoost said. "We have seen 40 to 50 dead bodies." He said the alleged Taliban fighters were killed in the Dozi area of Zabul's Dai Chopan district and the guerrillas' main base there had been overrun.
"Our mopping-up operation continues and we have besieged the entire Taliban force who have no way to escape," he claimed.
Mr Juman Khan, the police chief of Dai Chopan, said warplanes from the US-led forces in Afghanistan had bombed mountain areas where up to 600 Taliban fighters were thought to be hiding after launching attacks on Friday and Saturday.
He said ground forces, which included about 450 Afghans and two dozen Americans, had captured up to 40 suspects though these could include innocent people. He said the government and Americans had not suffered any casualties.
"The rest of Taliban, I think, have fled," he said. "The bombing has just ended because of darkness. As far as I can see, the Taliban have been defeated totally here and we have captured their bases."