21 Taliban killed in clashes, airstrikes

TIRIN KOT: At least 21 Taliban militants have been killed and 17 wounded during clashes and airstrikes in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province, a provincial government spokesman said Thursday.

"Militants armed with guns and propelled grenades resumed fighting with security forces on Tuesday. The ground forces responded to the attack and Afghan Air Force also supported them in the fight against the militants," spokesman Ahmad Shah Sahil told Xinhua.

The mountainous Dihrawud district, in the western part of provincial capital Tirin Kot city, has been the scene of heavy clashes in recent weeks as scores of Taliban militants attacked the remote district, trying to capture control of the area.

More than 100 security forces and Taliban militants have been killed and many others wounded in clashes in the province, 370km in the southwest of Afghanistan's capital Kabul, in recent weeks.