NATO Forces Kill Up To 23 Militants In Afghanistan

October 18, 2006 -- NATO said today its troops backed by warplanes killed as many as 14 militants in fighting in northeastern Afghanistan's Nuristan Province.
Nine more militants were killed elsewhere in Afghanistan.

The militants attacked the convoy in the Kamdesh area of Nuristan near the Pakistani border, destroying one vehicle. There was no report of casualties among the NATO troops.

NATO and Afghan troops were involved in fighting further south in the Paktia Province that border Pakistan's tribal area.

Lieutenant Euan Downie, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, said more than 20 militants were killed in that battle.

In the southern Helmand Province a rocket hit a house during a battle between NATO forces and suspected Taliban militants near the village of Tajikai. At least 13 civilians were killed by the rocket.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhel confirmed the fighting but said he could not say whose rocket hit the home.

(AFP, AP)