KANDAHAR, March 30: The Afghan military in Kandahar was on Sunday continuing to hunt a group of suspected Taliban in a major operation in which 10 extremists were killed and 13 captured, a security source said.

Fighting between 1,200 Afghan pro-government troops supported by US forces and a group of 50-100 suspected Taliban lasted through Saturday in the districts of Khakrez and Shah Wali Khot, bordering central Oruzgan province, Kandahar police chief General Mohammad Akram told AFP.

The operation was launched on Saturday by the Kandahar authorities, two days after the execution-style killing by unidentified gunmen of a foreign worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the destruction of several government vehicles in the same region.

The sole foreigner in the two-vehicle convoy, the ICRC worker of Salvadoran origin was accused of being an “infidel and an unbeliever” and shot dead in front of the Afghan staff, who were spared.

A small group of US Special Forces assisted the Afghan militia in Saturday’s operation, the US military confirmed. Two Apache helicopters and two F-16 warplanes from European coalition partners bombed the area after being called in to provide air support.

ATTACK ON ISAF: The international peacekeepers’ compound in Kabul was hit in a rocket attack Sunday night, police said.