Coalition forces net 4 al-Qaeda suspects

There were no casualties on either side during the raid conducted early Saturday in Sal Kalay village in Khost province near the Pakistan border, the US military said in a statement.

"The purpose of the operation was to capture al-Qaeda operatives who have been involved in the planning of attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan."

"The mission was successful," the statement said, without giving details. It did not reveal the names and nationalities of the detained men.

Two AK-47 assault rifles and a briefcase, filled with "extremist-related" documents were seized from the location where the men were captured, it added.

"Each day we gain greater intelligence and greater ability to find terrorists who offer nothing to the Afghan people but fear and intimidation," it said.

Taliban militants and their al-Qaeda allies have been waging a bloody insurgency since they were driven from power in late 2001 in a US-led military offensive after they refused to surrender al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks.

Meanwhile two policemen guarding an archaeological site in northern Balkh province were killed and another was wounded when unknown assailants attacked them overnight, provincial police spokesman Sher Jan Durani said.

The policemen were part of a 50-man guard who were sent from Kabul in April to protect a historical site in Dawlatabad district of the province, the spokesman said.