Afghan and international forces killed 55 suspected Taliban in two operations near the border with Pakistan, a spokesman said Sunday. A policeman was also killed in the violence, AP reported. Separately, in Nangarhar province, one policeman was killed and two were injured when a roadside bomb exploded next to a police vehicle on Sunday, said Mohammad Akrem, the chief of Bati Kot district. Afghan army, police and Western troops carried out the two operations Saturday in the eastern border districts of Bermel and Gayan in Paktika province, said Ghamai Khan, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said 15 suspected insurgents were killed in Bermel, while 40 were killed in Gayan. Authorities recovered 10 bodies of the dead insurgents. He did not say how officials knew another 45 Taliban were killed, and the death toll couldn't be independently verified. «They were planning to attack the security post in Gayan. The governor knew about the enemy operation, so they launched an operation and airstrike,» Khan said. One policeman was killed, and another was wounded in one of the operations, he said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it didn't immediately have any details.
