Sources: Bloomberg

By Gregory Viscusi

U.S.-led coalition forces killed 55 Taliban militants in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan border in a three-day battle, the coalition said in a statement.

Operations began June 20 when coalition forces were ambushed in the eastern province of Paktika. The coalition repulsed that attack with small-arms fire, and then pursued the militants over the next two days, backed by air strikes, the military said. Twenty-five militants were wounded and three were captured, it said.

The weekend’s operations follow a sweep by North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Afghan forces north of Kandahar that they say cleared the region of Taliban fighters.

Taliban rebels, seeking to overthrow Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, have stepped up their insurgency in southern and eastern provinces and increasingly targeted the capital, Kabul, with suicide bombings in recent months.

NATO troops today said they’ve found their 100th weapons cache this year, bringing the total haul since Jan. 1 to 478 rockets, 145 grenades and 117 mines.

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Tags: battle, border, coalition forces, Militants, Taliban