41 Taliban, 6 cops killed in major Afghan battle

The battle southwest of Kandahar city lasted almost the entire day Friday, with helicopters from the US-led coalition firing rockets in support of Afghan forces on the ground.

"In the result, 41 Taliban were killed, a big number of them were wounded," Kandahar governor Assadullah Khalid told AFP.

"Six police were martyred, nine police were wounded," he said, adding that three civilians were also wounded and 13 Taliban arrested.

The dead included a district police chief, he said.

In a separate ambush, Taliban insurgents gunned down an Afghan district governor in troubled southern Afghanistan Saturday in insurgency-hit Helmand province, police said.

Abdul Majeed, the governor for the province's Baghran district, was killed in his car, district police chief Bahaudin Khan told AFP. "Our district governor was martyred today," he said.

A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, said by telephone the movement was responsible for the attack. He claimed seven police were also killed but this was rejected by Khan.

Khalid said Taliban fighters had gathered in the area, which includes the Panjwayi and Zarai districts about 40km southwest of Kandahar city, for about three days after fleeing an offensive in neighbouring Helmand province.

A Taliban spokesman said the battle had started with a Taliban attack. The spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, only acknowledged two Taliban deaths and said three of the fighters were wounded.

"Late in the day the US planes appeared and Taliban escaped the area. Lots of civilians were killed by the bombing in the village," he said by telephone from an unknown location.

Two wounded civilians and four wounded police were in hospital in Kandahar city, an AFP reporter said.