300 Taliban killed in Afghan Operation

KABUL—About 300 insurgents have been killed in Operation Mountain Fury in eastern and central Afghanistan, a coalition forces spokesman told Xinhua on Saturday.
"Yes, I can confirm that some 300 militants have been killed jointly by Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces in the operation," said Lt. Marcelo Calero.
He said the operation is ongoing, and that there is no timetable for ending yet.
The joint forces would continue to fight anti-government militants and facilitate reconstruction in the region, he added.
About 7,000 coalition forces and Afghan troops and policemen launched Operation Mountain Fury on Sept. 16 to wipe out Taliban militants in Logar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika and Paktia provinces in eastern and central fghanistan.
However, a purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi rejected the claiming, saying only 41 Taliban militants were killed in the past three months, according to local reports.
Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
Over 2,400 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in this Central Asian country in the past nine months. —Agencies