Taliban claims killing seven coalition troops in Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban claimed on Wednesday they killed seven coalition forces' troops in a clash in the southern Paktika province, local newspaper Outlook reported Thursday.

A spokesman for the former ruling militia was quoted as saying that Taliban had also lost three men in the battle that erupted in the troubled province late Tuesday night.

"Our mujahideen attacked an American base in the Barmal district of Paktita. In the ensuing clash, 10 people including seven coalition troops and three Taliban fighters were killed. Two vehicles belonging to the coalition forces were also torched," he added.

However, the coalition forces' spokesman Cindy Moore had no information regarding the clash.

"Had such a battle taken place, I would have been aware. So far we have received no report," she said.

Two US marines and 23 insurgents were killed after a five-hour gun battle in Afghan eastern province of Laghman Sunday, which made the number of American troops killed in and around Afghanistan to 143 since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, according to US Defense Department statistics.

Source: Xinhua