Afghan troops kill 13 Taliban ambushers

KABUL, June 9 (Reuters) Afghan troops surrounded and killed 13 Taliban fighters after their convoy was ambushed by the guerrillas, an army commander said today.

The ambush took place yesterday evening in Uruzgan, one of the southern provinces where the Taliban has enjoyed plenty of sympathy from ethnic Pashtun villagers in the rural areas.

''Right after the Taliban opened fire on our troops, our troops surrounded them. As a result of the clashes all 13 Taliban fighters were killed,'' Rahmatullah Raufi, the army commander in the south, told Reuters.

Two of the fighters were carrying Pakistani identity papers and documents, he added.

Afghanistan has repeatedly asked Pakistan to do more to stop infiltration by guerrillas as the insurgency has entered its bloodiest phase since a Taliban government was toppled by US-backed forces in late 2001.

Pakistan says it is doing its utmost, and the issue has led to a sharp deterioration in relations between two governments that are allies in the US-led war on terrorism.

The insurgency has been concentrated in the south and east, but few places are completely safe, with criminals and drug runners also fueling the violence.

In the western province of Herat, a police officer and three constables were killed in an ambush by unidentified gunmen yesterday evening, according to state television.

And a second Afghan aid worker, employed by the western funded Coordination for Humanitarian Assistance, succumbed to wounds today, a day after an attack by unidentified gunmen in the northern province of Balkh, Tolo TV, a private channel, reported.

One aid worker was killed outright after their vehicle came under fire, while a third is still being treated for wounds.

REUTERS PR KN2213