KABUL (AFP) — Afghan and international troops killed more than 30 militants in a clash near Kabul, military forces said Thursday, confirming that three Polish soldiers had also died in a bomb blast.
Troops called for air support after coming under fire Wednesday during a search operation in Laghman province, northeast of Kabul province, the US-led coalition said.
"During the operation, more than 30 militants were killed and a large cache of mortar rounds and IED (improvised explosive device) materials were destroyed by the commandos," it said in a statement.
No civilian casualties were reported, the force said.
The strikes were called when the area was clear of women and children after about 200 civilians were seen fleeing, the statement said.
The separate NATO-led force meanwhile confirmed that three of its soldiers had been killed when an IED hit their vehicle in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday.
The nearly 40-nation International Security Assistance Force did not give the nationalities of the troops, as is its policy, but Poland's PAP news agency cited military officers saying Wednesday three Polish soldiers were killed.
Polish Major Jacek Poplawski told the agency that the three died about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from their Ghazni base in central Afghanistan and another was seriously wounded.
It has been a deadly week for international forces helping Afghanistan to fight an extremist insurgency led by the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalists who ruled between 1996 and 2001.
Ten French soldiers were killed in fighting Monday and Tuesday, in the highest toll for a ground battle since foreign soldiers arrived in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Another soldier was shot dead in the east of the country on Wednesday.
With the last death, 181 foreign soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Most have died in combat with insurgents.
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