27 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes

Fifteen suspected militants were killed when Afghan security forces backed by the US-led coalition attacked their hideout in the southern province of Uruzgan on Sunday, General Rahmatullah Raufi said.

The dead included a man "most likely" to be a brother-in-law of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Raufi said.

"Among the dead whose bodies were left in the battlefield there is one guy called Amanullah who is most likely to be Mullah Omar's brother-in-law and was in charge of the Taliban's finances in the province," he said.

Items found in the man's pockets and statements from villagers indicated that he was Omar's brother-in-law, Raufi said.

A man who often speaks to the media as a Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, confirmed the battle but said none of the movement's fighters, including Omar's brother-in-law, had died.

Twelve other suspected Taliban were killed the same day in neighbouring Kandahar province when coalition warplanes bombed a building in which militants were taking refuge, Raufi said.

They had been hiding out in a room used to dry grapes into raisins.

"Following the bombardment we launched an operation and captured six Taliban in the area," he told AFP.

Uruzgan and Kandahar are among the provinces worst hit by an insurgency that has in the past weeks seen the most intense fighting since the Taliban were removed from government in late 2001.