Afghan operation "significant" success, NATO says

KABUL, Sep 17 (Reuters) NATO and Afghan government forces have forced Taliban troops out of a southern Afghan district after a two-week operation in which NATO said hundreds of militants were killed.

''This has been a significant success and clearly shows the capability that Afghan, NATO and coalition forces have when they operate together,'' the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Richards, told a news conference today.

The offensive, codenamed Operation Medusa, was launched on September 2 to clear well dug-in Taliban forces from a farming district about 25 km west of the southern city of Kandahar.

REUTERS MA BS1733