An Afghan provincial official says that about 40 Taliban fighters have been killed in several days of clashes with security forces in the country's south.
General Sayed Agha Saqib, the police chief of Kandahar province, said Sunday, that 35 Taliban were killed and 10 captured in a three-day operation that ended Saturday in the mountainous Shah Wali Kot district.
Saqib said Afghan and foreign troops clashed with another group of militants in Kandahar's Zhari district Saturday, killing five fighters and detaining four others.
The police chief said there were no casualties among the Afghan or foreign troops.
Saqib's casualty figures could not be independently verified.
This year has been the most violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
