Thirteen suspected Taliban combatants have been killed in fighting with U.S. and Afghan forces in a southern province, and more than 40 other suspected militants have been arrested, a senior Afghan official said Monday. Some 200 Afghan police, supported by the U.S.-led coalition, fought the militants in mountains of Ghorak district in Kandahar province on Sunday night, said Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid _ the latest violence ahead of landmark Sept. 18 elections. "We have the dead bodies," Khalid said, adding that assault rifles and some ammunition was confiscated from the fighters. The Associated Press quoted Khalid as saying that 44 other suspects were arrested and that the Afghan and coalition forces had suffered no casualties. U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts on Monday confirmed that more than 40 suspected insurgents had been taken into custody, but gave no further details about the military operation in Kandahar, which he said was continuing.
