Afghan Army Kills 7 Insurgents In Afghan South

The insurgents had infiltrated the village of Haji Amin, in the district of Garmser on the Helmand River, when they were killed by Afghan National Army troops backed by air support from international forces, the ministry said.

Helmand, where mostly British and Afghan troops are fighting the Taliban insurgency, is a largely desert province cut in two by a strip of lush fertile land along the Helmand River that produces almost half the world's opium.

In a separate incident, five Afghan soldiers were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside mine in the southern province of Zabul on Sunday.

The Taliban regularly use roadside bombs in their fight to topple the Afghan government and drive the international forces that back it out of the country.