Fifteen Taliban rebels were killed in an operation by the Afghan military in a troubled southwestern province, a military commander said here Sunday.The Islamic rebels were killed in a gunbattle in the southwestern province of Badghis on Saturday, colonel Ghulam Sakhi told AFP. "We killed 15 Taliban in face-to-face fighting," the colonel, who led the operation in the province's Ghormach district, said. Several other rebels were injured, he added, without giving a figure. The rebels were killed during an operation launched in several provinces last week, the colonel said.