Kabul - Taliban militants Friday claimed their forces were engaged in heavy fighting in Ghorak district of the southern province of Kandahar, but Afghan security officials said the fighting had been brief and the district was firmly under the control of the Afghan forces. Sayed Aqa Sabib, the police chief of Kandahar province, said insurgents attacked Ghorak district headquarters Thursday night but fled after meeting resistance.
But Taliban insurgents, in a Pashto-language statement posted on their official website, said fighting continued Friday for control of Ghorak district headquarters.
"In result of heavy exchange of firing, many Afghan forces were killed," said the militants' statement.
Sayed Aqa Sabib rejected the Taliban claim.
In a separate incident, an Afghan soldier was killed in a landmine explosion early Friday in Zerai district of the same province.
According to Afghan officials, the soldier was on routine patrol in the district when the landmine exploded.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Zabul province, fighting erupted between Afghan forces and Taliban militants Thursday night, officials said.
According to Barat Khan, the Shinkay district chief, militants attacked the district Thursday night and an hour-long firefight left five Taliban dead and six others wounded.
"There were no police or civilian casualties during clash," the district chief said.
US-led coalition forces Friday said at least eight militants were detained during an Afghan National Security and US-led coalition forces' joint operation in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia.
The arrests were made on Thursday after the combined force searched several compounds in Zadran district, aiming to target a Taliban militant suspected of facilitating improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and fighters in the area, it added.
"IED components were discovered on the compounds and removed to prevent possible future use," the statement said.
In another development, Afghan security forces recovered and defused a roadside explosive device in Paghman district near Kabul on Thursday night.
Abdul Razaq, police chief of Paghman district, said the explosive device was fitted between the road near the district market and the Kobaki area where Afghan and foreign forces sometimes patrol.
