At least 74 Taliban militants, 4 U.S. soldiers, and 10 Afghan policemen were killed in the fresh weekend violence in war-weary Afghanistan. In the deadliest conflict starting from late Saturday, 70 Taliban insurgents were killed in Panjwai district of the southern Kandahar province, district chief Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi told Xinhua on Sunday. The clash, which lasted till early hours of Sunday, also killed four policemen and one Afghan soldier, said a local police officer who refused to be named. Three policemen and three Afghan soldiers were injured in the conflict, he added. In a latest statement, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Afghan forces and ISAF had inflicted heavy casualties against Taliban fighters in Panjwayi district. "Afghan officials have reported that between 60 and 72 Taliban fighters were killed" in Saturday's conflict, it said, adding ISAF ground forces called upon air and artillery assets. It also said there were no ISAF casualties in the engagements. Panjwai, about 40 km west of Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, has been a hotbed of Taliban militants, who have frequently clashed with government and foreign troops in the past months.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials said Sunday that six border policemen and four Taliban insurgents were killed in the western Nimroz province on Saturday, according to reports. Four U.S. soldiers were also killed in the volatile country on Saturday, which was Afghanistan's 87th Independence Day. Three coalition troops were killed in a clash in Pech district of the eastern Kunar province in the morning, Chris Miller, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition forces told Xinhua. A coalition combat patrol struck a roadside bomb and engaged a group of Taliban extremists in the district, coalition forces said in a statement, which added three coalition troops were injured. Later reports confirmed the killed and wounded soldiers are all Americans.