NATO Says Taliban Fighters Killed, Chieftain Captured During Clashes

British soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the town of Girishk in Helmand Province

NATO forces say they have killed a "large number" of Taliban fighters and captured a rebel district chief after a raid on an insurgent hideout in the southern Helmand Province.

The fighting in the province's Baghran district erupted when NATO troops surrounded a compound and Taliban fighters inside the compound responded with machine-gun fire and rockets.

The Taliban chief of Naw Zad, another restive district of Helmand, was injured and detained following the fighting.

In northern Afghanistan, four rockets slammed into a base housing South Korean construction workers and security personnel in Parwan Province.

No casualties were reported and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. It came one day before the South Korean reconstruction team planned to officially launch its mission.

compiled from agency reports