Saturday, April 15 2006 12:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kandahar: Afghan security forces backed by coalition helicopters attacked a suspected Taliban hideout in southern Afghanistan, sparking an intense gunbattle that left 41 rebels dead and several others wounded, a provincial governor said today (Apr 15, 2006).

Six Afghan police officers also died and nine were wounded in yesterday's fighting between Afghan police and Taliban in Sangisar, a town 40 kms southwest of Kandahar, said Asadullah Khalid, the provincial governor.

"Acting on intelligence reports that Taliban have gathered in Sangisar to plan an attack in Kandahar, we launched this operation Friday (yesterday) and the fighting continued from morning to evening," he said.