Kabul - At least 12 insurgents and two children were killed in an airstrike by international forces on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan as a massive operation to retake the Taliban- controlled town continued Saturday, officials said. Meanwhile, an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed and another was wounded in an explosion in the southern region, ISAF said.
The militants died in an airstrike on Friday in Musa Galah district, in the country's opium-producing heartland in southern Helmand province, hours after the operation began, Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said.
Another two children were killed along with a further five civilians on Friday in a clash between the militants and combined forces in Musa Qalah district, when Taliban militants hid their vehicle behind a passenger vehicle, he said. Azimi accused Taliban militants for using the civilians as human shields.
Azimi said that Afghan forces were stationed in the eastern, western and southern parts of the city, while NATO helicopters also "successfully dropped troops in several points".
In order to avoid civilian deaths, Azimi called on Taliban militants to surrender or they would face a military attack.
"Taliban in Musa Qalah should put their weapons on the ground and surrender. If not, they will come under attack by Afghan national Army forces," he warned.
The US-led coalition also said their forces had conducted a "precision munitions strike" against a Taliban commander, who was responsible for attacks against Afghan and international forces in Musa Qalah district, the US military said in a statement.
Following the raid, "multiple secondary explosions were also reported, indicating the presence of a sizeable weapons cache," it added.
While troops were closing in on the town, hundreds of families were reported to have fled to the neighbouring district. Azimi said that the operation followed requests by residents oppressed by the rebels. "Musa Qalah had become the safe haven for foreign fighters," Azimi said.
Taliban militants took control of Musa Qala district in February, four months after British forces left. The Taliban move breached a truce between the British forces and the town's elders, who agreed the rebels would be kept out and security maintained by residents.
The Taliban have taken control of several districts this year in southern and western parts of the country, but have fled the fallen towns after fresh Afghan and ISAF forces were deployed.
Holding sway in Musa Qala has been a sign of the insurgents' ability to keep territories under their control, whereas the militants elsewhere have relied mostly on hit-and-run tactics.
In a separate incident, one ISAF soldier was killed and another was wounded in an explosion in the southern region on Saturday, ISAF said in a statement.
The statement did not identify the nationalities of the soldiers, nor did it specify where the incident took place. Most troops in the southern region are British, Dutch, Canadian and American.
Afghanistan has witnessed the most violent period this year since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001, with the number killed so far estimated at over 6,100 - mostly insurgents.
