Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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July 23, 2007

US, Afghan Soldiers Kill 50 Suspected Taleban
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=183BDEF:A6F02AD83191E160249E7A22A45A40BE9574F7DCC14957C0 US military said
no civilians were killed during battles which ended Monday The
U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says more than 50 suspected Taleban
insurgents have been killed in two days of fighting in southern
Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan forces called for air support on Sunday after Islamist
fighters ambushed a military patrol with a suicide car bomb in Helmand
province, the heartland of Afghanistan's poppy growing region.

A statement from the U.S. military says coalition aircraft dropped
four bombs to destroy enemy compounds. It also said insurgents tried
and failed to shoot down a coalition aircraft.

The U.S. military said no civilians were killed during battles which
ended Monday.

The deaths of civilians during NATO and U.S. military operations in
Afghanistan has been a highly contentious issue, with Afghan President
Hamid Karzai calling them unacceptable.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the interior ministry says 14 suspected
Taleban were killed during battles on Sunday in southern Zabul
province.


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