August 24, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 25

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KABUL, Aug 23: Four suspected Taliban militants and two Afghan soldiers were killed in fighting in central Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province where pro-government forces were continuing operations against the ousted militia, a local official said on Saturday.

Six militants were also arrested and one soldier wounded during the fighting on Friday in Khas district, 280 kilometres southwest of Kabul, provincial official Abdul Rahim said.

Mr Rahim said up to 300 Taliban were involved in the three-hour clashes with government troops.

“After three hours they could not resist the government forces and fled to the mountains,” Mr Rahim said. “Today the clean-up operation is continuing but there was no report of any fighting so far,” he said.

US SOLDIER: The US army has repatriated the body of a soldier killed in southeast Afghanistan, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Soldier David Tapper died of injuries received in a firefight in Paktika province where at least 25 people were killed at the weekend in battles with insurgents.

“David M. Tapper, 32, was fatally wounded on Wednesday after his convoy made contact with enemy forces in the vicinity of Urgon in Paktika province,” US Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at the US-led coalition’s Bagram Air Base headquarters 50 kilometres north of Kabul.

“He was transported to Bagram Air Base hospital, where he died of his wounds,” Col Davis said, without giving further details of the fighting.—AFP