Two NATO troops, 19 militants killed in Afghanistan

KABUL - Nineteen Taliban militants and two NATO soldiers have been killed in latest violence in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Two NATO-led International Security Assistance Force service members died in two separate bombings in southern Afghanistan, the military alliance said.

NATO did not specify where the incidents took place or the nationality of the deceased.

Separately, 15 Taliban insurgents were killed in a joint operation led by NATO troops in eastern province of Nangarhar Friday night, provincial police chief Ali Shah Paktiawal said.

“It was a clearance operation against Taliban militants.”

Afghan and NATO troops targeted a gathering of Taliban militants in Lal Poor district, killing at least 15 insurgents.

Elsewhere, four Taliban including one of the group’s “shadow” governors were killed and one insurgent injured in coalition forces airstrike in northern province of Sar-e-Pul Friday night, Qamar-u-din, the provincial deputy governor said.

“Two other rebels were detained by the joint forces,” he said.

Taliban insurgents have been operating “shadow” administrations in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan since the start of the US-led war in 2001 that ousted the Taliban government.