Coalition forces in Afghanistan say they killed two Taliban leaders in recent operations in Helmand and Badghis provinces.
NATO says Mullah Jamaluddin was killed in a joint operation with Afghan forces on Saturday. He was believed to have been a candidate to become the Taliban's "shadow governor" (provincial chief) in Badghis province, after Afghan and coalition forces killed the Taliban's previous provincial chief on Wednesday.
The coalition says Afghan and international forces also killed a senior Taliban member, Ajmal Agha Jan, in a raid in Helmand overnight. NATO says he was responsible for making bombs and placing them throughout the province.
NATO says a bomb attack Sunday killed two of its service members in southern Afghanistan.
The coalition condemned a roadside bombing in Paktia province Sunday that killed at least five civilians. It says international troops will work with their Afghan partners to find those responsible.
The U.N.'s latest report on Afghan civilian casualties says nearly 1,300 civilians were killed during the first six months of this year. More than 75 percent of the deaths were caused by militants.
Also Sunday, the Afghan council tasked with starting peace talks with insurgent groups chose a former president as its chairman. Burhanuddin Rabbani served as Afghan president during the 1990s and was a mujahideen faction leader during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
The peace council had its first meeting on Thursday.
In June, delegates at a peace conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plans for peace talks with the Taliban in an attempt to end nine years of war.
The Taliban has said it will not engage in peace talks until all foreign troops leave Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
