Afghan insurgent HQ destroyed, 25 dead-US military

KABUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) Afghan and US-led coalition forces destroyed an insurgent headquarters near the southern city of Kandahar overnight, killing an estimated two-dozen guerrillas, the US military said today.

Troops backed by air support attacked two compounds in Ashoqeh Village, 17 km southwest of the southern city of Kandahar, the military said.

It was the latest in a series of clashes in the Islamist Taliban-dominated south in recent weeks in which the US military said coalition forces have killed hundreds of insurgents.

''Intelligence suggested that the compounds, comprised of seven buildings, contained multiple insurgent leaders responsible for the deaths of Afghans and Coalition forces during IED attacks and ambushes,'' the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.

''A total of 25 insurgents were estimated killed during the course of the evening's operations,'' it added, saying a suicide bomber blew himself up during the initial engagement.

The Taliban, who have been locked in a deadly insurgency against the Afghan government and Western troops since their overthrow in 2001, had no immediate information. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.

Saturday's clash comes on the heels of a series of similar incidents in recent weeks, and just days after a Taliban suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near the Afghan capital's airport, killing two Afghan soldiers and wounding a dozen people.

Copying Iraqi insurgents' tactics, the Taliban largely rely on suicide attacks and roadside bombs as part of their campaign against the Afghan government and some 50,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the US military.

During the past 19 months, more than 7,000 people, including many civilians, have been killed.

REUTERS PDT BD1810