KABUL, July 20: The Afghan National Army killed 15 Taliban members in central province of Urzgan, the state-run television reported late on Tuesday night. Troops also arrested 10 Taliban in the operation in Deh Rawood district, a military spokesman said. The report made no mention of any Afghan troop casualties.

However, Mufti Abdul Latif Hakimi, a spokesman for the Taliban fighters, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that only six Taliban fighters were killed, while 12 US soldiers who were also involved had been killed.

After three hours fighting, Taliban left the area, and after a while, a US helicopter attacked, seriously injuring five civilians. Hakimi added that US troops transferred the injured civilians to Kandahar airport.

AIP also reported that Taliban fighters shot and the killed driver of a public transport vehicle in southern Kandahar province for possessing an election card. Meanwhile, two rockets exploded in Kabul on Tuesday but there were no reports of casualties, in the second rocket attack on the city this week.

The first rocket landed at the side of the Jalalabad Road, four kilometres east of the city. "The second rocket hit a hill in the south eastern part of the city," an interior ministry official said. -dpa / AFP