Two NATO soldiers and 20 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, while 12 Afghan de-miners were abducted by unknown armed men, officials said Friday, according to DPA. The two soldiers, who were serving under the banner of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed and several others were wounded in one clash, the ISAF said in a statement. The statement did not identify the nationalities of the deceased soldiers, nor did it say where exactly the incidents took place. The Taliban claimed in a statement posted on their website that they killed at least four foreign soldiers in Kajaki district of southern Helmand province on Thursday. Most of the ISAF soldiers stationed in the southern provinces are US, Canadian, British or Dutch. In another firefight between US-led Coalition and Afghan forces and the Taliban insurgents that took place in Mia-Nashin district of southern Kandahar province, 20 Taliban militants were killed while four others were wounded, the US military said in statement. According to the military statement, the clash lasted for eight hours, while Afghan and Coalition forces called in air support and repelled Taliban attacks. The statement said the combined force was on a combat patrol near a small village in Mianishin district and was attacked by more than 30 "enemy fighters" using small arms. No Afghan or Coalition soldier or Afghan civilians were killed or injured in the combat, said the statement.
