HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — Air strikes killed eight Taliban rebels including three militant commanders in southwestern Afghanistan early Friday, the Afghan army said, adding two civilians were also slain.
The US-led coalition confirmed it had called in air strikes after coming under attack in Bakwa district in the southwestern province of Farah, and said two civilians were killed with six rebels, giving a different toll.
One of the dead Taliban commanders was Mullah Fazil, who was deputy governor of the province during the 1996 to 2001 rule of the Taliban, said the Afghan National Army commander, Farooq Naeemi.
"In the air strike eight Taliban were killed, among them three commanders including Mullah Fazil," Naeemi told AFP.
Two civilians -- a woman and a child aged about nine -- were killed and two wounded, he said, adding that they were all relatives of Fazil.
Farah deputy governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli said however he had information that Fazil, whom he described as an "important" Taliban commander, was only wounded.
The number of casualties and who they were was not yet clear, he said.
The coalition said fighting had erupted after a reconnaissance patrol had been ambushed.
The soldiers "engaged with aimed accurate fire, and close air support, killing six militants," it said.
"Two civilians were killed and two wounded during the conduct of the insurgent ambush operation," the statement said.
Bakwa is a stronghold of the Taliban, who were removed from government in a US-led invasion launched nearly seven years ago.
Despite the efforts of international and Afghan troops, the hardliners have been able to regroup to fight a growing insurgency.
In other unrest, two policemen were ambushed and killed while travelling by motorbike in the central province of Ghazni on Friday, provincial government spokesman Ismaiel Jehangir said, blaming the attack on the Taliban.
The bodies of three other policemen were found separately, a day after they had been kidnapped, he said. They had been shot dead.
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