NATO kills 115 militants in east Afghanistan fight

KABUL, Oct 20 (AP): NATO and Afghan forces have killed at least 115 insurgents over the past week as part of an ongoing operation in a northeastern Afghanistan province, the coalition said Thursday, as it looks to curb insurgent activity along the border with neighbouring Pakistan. The fighting in Kunar province, known for its rugged terrain that leaves coalition supply lines from Pakistan vulnerable to insurgent attacks, comes as NATO is stepping up efforts to secure the country and ready Afghan forces to fully take over security responsibilities before international forces wind down their combat mission in 2014. NATO said the operation has been going on since around Oct. 15 and has included the use of fighter jets and long-range bombers. The alliance said that one NATO service member has been killed since the fighting began. It was not immediately clear if any Afghan troops had been killed. "This is a series of multiple, smaller operations that have a combined, larger impact," said Master Sgt. Nicholas Conner, a NATO spokesman at Bagram Air Field. "Most of the Kunar region is marked with isolated pockets of villages that (Afghan and NATO) forces focus on at the company level or smaller." On the diplomatic front, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived Wednesday in the Afghan capital in an unannounced visit. She is expected to encourage President Hamid Karzai to move ahead with Taliban reconciliation efforts and boost cooperation with Pakistan as the Obama administration looks ahead to the withdrawal of combat forces from the country.