More than 100 Taliban killed by coalition forces

Militants agreed to release
19 South Korean hostages.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S.-led and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday in ground clashes and airstrikes that left more than 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

Also Tuesday, Taliban militants agreed to release 19 South Korean church volunteers held hostage for six weeks after Seoul reaffirmed a pledge to withdraw its troops by year’s end and prevent Christian missionaries from working in Afghanistan.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday that the U.S. wanted the Koreans returned to their families and stressed that U.S. policy was not to make concessions to terrorists.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 Koreans as they traveled by bus from Kabul to Kandahar on July 19. The militants killed two male hostages in late July, then freed two female captives earlier this month.

In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops helping to build a bridge, killing three American soldiers, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because not all families had been notified.

About the battle

The battle in southern Kandahar province’s Shah Wali Kot district started after the joint force was ambushed by a large group of insurgents who tried to overrun their position several times, before being strafed by airstrikes, the statement from the coalition said.

“Coalition aircraft destroyed the reinforced enemy emplacements and sniper positions as well as two trucks used to reinforce and re-supply the insurgent force,” the statement said.

More than 100 suspected insurgents and an Afghan soldier were killed, officials said. The casualty figures could not be independently verified due to remoteness of the area.

The clash also left three coalition and three Afghan soldiers wounded, the statement said. The nationality of the coalition soldier was not disclosed, but the vast majority of them are American.

Violence is soaring in Afghanistan. This year more than 3,900 people — most of them militants — have died, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.

Also Tuesday, U.S.-led and Afghan troops raided a house near Kandahar city, killing two suspected militants and detaining five others, a coalition statement said.