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Troops kill 70 Taliban in Afghanistan

AP, AFP, Kandahar
An Afghan government official said yesterday that international war planes had bombed a gathering of Taliban and other militants on the southern border with Pakistan and killed up to 70.
The International Security Assistance Force however could not immediately confirm its involvement in the strike and the separate US-led coalition said it was not involved.
Intelligence reports had indicated that a "big number" of militants, including Arabs and Pakistanis, had gathered in Bahram Chah in southern Helmand province, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP
The men were being watched by international troops who then sent in aircraft, he said.
"The foreign forces bombed the Taliban gathering overnight in Barham Chah and killed up to 70 Taliban who were mostly foreign fighters," Ahmadi said.
The area, on the border with
Pakistan's Baluchistan region, is extremely remote and it was impossible to verify the account.
The vast province of Helmand is the main producer of illegal opium in Afghanistan, which produces more than 90 percent of the drug, according to the United States.
The border town of Barham Chah has a drugs bazaar that is reputed to be one of the biggest in the country for the transit of opium and heroin into Pakistan and Iran, from where the drugs are smuggled to Europe.
It is also said to be a gateway into Afghanistan for militants and weapons for an Taliban-led insurgency against the Afghan government, which is backed by thousands of US, British and other international troops.
Ahmadi described it as place of "smuggling, drugs business and other illegal activities" and acknowledged that the government had no control of the area.
Meanwhile Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints ringing a key provincial capital in
southern Afghanistan for the second time in a week, sparking a battle in which 18 insurgents were killed, an official said yesterday.
The late Tuesday attack came only two days after hundreds of militants gathered on the horizons of Lashkar Gah for an apparent large-scale assault on the capital of Helmand province. NATO called in fighter aircraft and 60 militants were reported killed.
The second attempt on the capital of the world's largest opium producing region would appear to signal the Taliban's interest in disrupting a major government center.
Large-scale Taliban attacks on major Afghan towns have been rare since the 2001 US-led invasion, and the latest push on Lashkar Gah could be a worrying development for NATO and U.S.-led troops. Fighting typically takes place in small villages and rural areas.
Tuesday's battle killed 18 militants and wounded three police, said provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad.