Fifteen Taliban, young girl killed in Afghan clashes

Fifteen Taliban and a young girl have been reportedly killed in clashes in Afghanistan, while US defence officials say NATO needs more soldiers and equipment to fight the insurgents. The army's southern commander, Rahmatullah Raufi, says 12 militants were killed in the southern province of Zabul in fighting on Tuesday (local time) to which the Afghan army called in foreign warplanes. Four more were arrested. Another battle erupted in the province overnight when Taliban attacked a police post nearby, the Mizan district chief said. The fighting lasted two hours and three Taliban were killed and five wounded. A rocket-propelled grenade reportedly landed on a civilian house during the battle, killing a girl aged about seven. A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed both clashes but not the death tolls. The battles came amid almost daily clashes in southern Afghanistan between militants and troops from the Afghan security forces, a US-led counter-terrorism coalition and a separate NATO-led contingent. There are around 50,000 foreign troops assisting Afghanistan's efforts to put down the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilise the fractured country, about 37,000 of whom are with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. But the unrest has grown steadily. Senior US defence officials say US defence secretary Robert Gates would press European allies for more troops and equipment for Afghanistan at a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels starting Thursday (local time). "There certainly is a need for more combat forces," one official said. "There is also a need for more enablers. Helicopters is one of them. Equipment is another." The shortfall includes three to four battalions that can be deployed at short notice and more than 3,000 trainers for the Afghan security forces, the officials said.