Gunbattles kill 125 Taliban, one foreign soldier

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KABUL, Sept 26 (AFP): NATO and US-led troops backed up by warplanes have killed more than 120 Taliban insurgents in two major battles in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.
One soldier was killed, a trooper with the 15,000-strong US-led coalition who died during a day-long gun battle in the restive province of Helmand Tuesday.
Around 60 rebels were killed in that battle, the coalition said, adding that air power was also used.
The fighting erupted during an Afghan and coalition patrol aimed at clearing an area near the Taliban-controlled district centre of Musa Qala in Helmand.
More than 65 rebels were killed late Tuesday in a similar battle in the south-central province of Uruzgan, another hotbed for the Taliban insurgents, said a separate NATO-led force which has around 40,000 troops.
NATO warplanes and artillery supported the Afghan and NATO forces on the ground, it said.