United States-led coalition troops killed more than 130 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan over the past several days, the coalition said on Monday, the heaviest reported rebel losses this year amid rising violence in the country.
Backed by air support, the Taliban were killed in two separate battles in the western province of Herat, the US military said in a statement.
Herat, bordering Iran, had been relatively safe until recently compared with the south and east, where the Taliban are most active.
Both battles were in the Zerkoh Valley, south of Shindand district, where foreign troops have a large base.
A total of 87 Taliban fighters were killed during a 14-hour battle with US-led troops and Afghan forces on Sunday.
Another 49 Taliban, including two of their leaders, were killed two days earlier after a group of Taliban fired at a joint coalition and Afghan patrol in another part of the valley.
The statement did not identify the Taliban leaders.
It said one US soldier was killed, but did not say if there were any casualties among the Afghan forces. There were no reported injuries among civilians, the statement said.
The Taliban could not be contacted immediately for comment and there was no independent verification of the reported Taliban losses, the heaviest yet this year, following last year’s bloodiest fighting since the Taliban’s ouster from power in 2001.
Violence has surged in recent weeks after the traditional winter lull and this is regarded as the crunch year for all sides. Almost 4 000 people died last year. Hundreds, including about 30 foreign troops, have been killed already this year.
Separately, US-led and Afghan forces have killed more than 150 Taliban and foreign fighters over the past three weeks in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, the coalition said in another statement.
Helmand is a Taliban stronghold and the key drug-producing region of the world’s leading producer of heroin. The Taliban could not be reached for comment on the Helmand losses.
The Taliban have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, but mostly rely on roadside bomb attacks, backed by suicide bombers, largely in the south and east.
But the north, like Herat regarded as safer than the south and east, has also seen a rise in violence in recent weeks. — Reuters