By Abdul Haleem

Clashes and Taliban-linked insurgency have left some four dozen people dead, including two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), on Saturday.

The day began with attack on the U.S.-led forces as two ISAF troopers were killed in the eastern region, a statement of the alliance said.

"Two ISAF service members were killed in an IED strike that occurred in eastern Afghanistan this morning," the statement added.

It did not mention the exact place of the incident, but stressed the troops' firm resolve in ensuring stability in Afghanistan.

Meantime, spokesman of Paktika's provincial administration Hamidullah Zhawak said that a militant, riding an explosive-laden car, blew it up in Paktika province east of Afghanistan Saturday morning, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring another Afghan trooper.

Zhawak put the attack on Taliban, adding, "Taliban insurgents carried out this attack next to the headquarters of Zirok district at 6:30 a.m. local time (GMT0200), killing two soldiers of the U.S.-led forces and injuring another Afghan trooper."

The incident triggered heavy fighting in the area, during which32 suspected insurgents were killed.

Following the blast, a group of Taliban militants, Zhawak added, raided the district headquarters when National Security Forces came for support and encountered the rebels.

Moreover, the official said that Gunships helicopters of U.S.-led forces, called in for support, pounded militants, killing 32 of them on the spot.

"Eight more insurgents have been detained," he said.

Moreover, the escalating militancy left seven policemen and a civilian dead as a mine planted by insurgents struck a police van in the Taliban former stronghold Kandahar in south Afghanistan Saturday morning, a press release of Interior Ministry said.

Two more policemen got wounded in the incident, according to the press release.

In another incident, roadside bomb claimed the life of one civilian and wounded another in the relatively peaceful northern Jauzjan province on the same day Saturday, the press release said.

Skirmishes went up in the eastern region while the joint operation of Afghan and the U.S.-led forces, with the involvement of nearly 5,000 troops, has been going on in the troubled Helmand province since early Thursday.

Conflicts and violence have left over 160 foreign troopers dead in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year as Taliban militants have vowed to speed up attacks against Afghan and the U.S.-led forces and disrupt the coming presidential poll scheduled for August 20.

Source: Xinhua