NATO and police forces killed up to 70 Taleban insurgents near the Pakistan border Sunday, using helicopter gunships and ground fighting to repulse an attack by about 100 rebels, officials said. About 100 insurgents had tried to capture the Spera district center, 15 km from the Pakistan border, opening fire on police at about 2:00 A.M. with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. “They had killed one policeman in the initial attack and had captured another officer who was later beheaded,” said Arsala Jamal provincial governor of Khost, which includes Spera. “ As they retreated, international military air forces came in and bombed them. Fifty to 70 Taleban have been killed.” The rebels were able to get “very close” to the district headquarters in Spera before the air forces arrived,” the governor said. “We could have killed more Taleban if they had not entered the villages. Violence linked to a Taleban-led insurgency has picked up in recent weeks with several deadly extremist attacks and military operations under way against the rebels. Elsewhere in Khost, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a tent used by guards in charge of security for a road construction company Sunday, killing one of them and injuring six more, officials said.
