Wednesday, September 13 2006 11:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kabul: Security forces killed 26 Taliban rebels and captured 28 others in separate operations across Afghanistan as NATO pushed on with a major offensive in the south, officials said yesterday (Sept 12, 2006).

The latest violence came as the top British general in charge of NATO forces in Afghanistan said that his men were defeating the ousted Islamist regime which is now waging a bitter insurgency.

Sixteen Taliban fighters were killed in two gunbattles with Afghan troops and police today in restive Ghazni province, south of Kabul, local government spokesman Abdul Ali Fakuri told sources.

"An Afghan soldier was also killed and two policemen were wounded," he said.

Three Taliban fighters were killed late yesterday in a village in southern Kandahar province, the Taliban's birthplace, provincial governor Asadullah Khalid said.

"The Taliban entered Afghanistan from Pakistan. Fighting erupted and three Taliban were killed," he said.

NATO forces say a major offensive codenamed Operation Medusa in Kandahar's Panjwayi and Zhari districts has killed over 500 rebels since September 2. The Taliban rejects the figure.

Seven suspected rebels were detained yesterday as NATO troops tried to disrupt insurgent supply lines between Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand province, the alliance said in a statement.

NATO made further territorial gains today and the operation was continuing, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nick Grant-Thorold told sources.