Taliban blitz American base

“From yesterday till now the fighting is going on. We have destroyed the whole base. We don’t know how many Americans or Taliban have been killed.”

In Helmand, a US soldier was killed during heavy fighting around the town of Sangin and along the Helmand River, which occasionally bordered on a rare naval engagement in the landlocked country.

However, US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC on Sunday that the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country but he did not give the number.

According to AFP, international and Afghan security forces killed at least 40 militants in an operation still under way in the southern province of Helmand, the US-led coalition said Sunday.

The fighting started on Saturday after militants ambushed a joint Afghan and international security patrol in the province’s volatile Sangin district, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

“The ensuing fight led ANSF (Afghanistan National Security Forces) and coalition forces to return fire and call for precision airstrikes,” it said.

“At least 40 militants have been killed in the last two days, while over 30 enemy boats and several ... bridges were also destroyed on the Helmand River,” it said.

In the northeast, NATO-led and Afghan soldiers were engaged in heavy battles in Kunar province, after an outpost came under attack early Sunday, officials said.

“The fighting started early today and it’s still ongoing. We have taken casualties,” said Captain Mike Finney, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

He could not immediately give details.