NATO kills over 30 Taliban in Afghan gun battle

NATO today said its forces in Afghanistan had killed at least 31 Taliban fighters and captured a rebel chieftain after a four-hour gun battle in the troubled south of the country.

The military alliance, grappling with concerns about faltering progress in the near nine-year war against the Taliban, also announced its first death of the month after record casualties in June.

NATO said troops had called in air support during running gun battles in the southern province of Helmand which erupted after rebels attacked soldiers moving in on their compound with machine guns and rockets.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement that the Taliban chief of Naw Zad, a restive district of Helmand, was injured and detained following the fighting.

"Afghan and international security forces captured the Taliban district chief of Naw Zad and killed a large number of insurgents during an operation in remote Baghran district in northern Helmand province last night," it said.

German army General Josef Blotz, a spokesman for ISAF, said at least 31 insurgents had been killed in the operation in Baghran.