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NATO attacks kill 38 Taliban: Afghan police
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - NATO-led forces killed 38 Taliban guerrillas in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, a provincial police official said.
Backed by air support, the attacks targeted insurgent hideouts in two areas in Helmand province, the main drug producing region of Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of heroin, the district police chief said.
"Eleven Taliban were killed in one attack and 27 in another," the chief, Habibullah, said. "There were no casualties among NATO or our troops," he added. NATO and Taliban could not be reached immediately for comment.
Fighting has begun intensifying across the country after winter and analysts say this is the crunch year for both NATO and the Taliban.
Last year was the bloodiest since the hardline Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
More than 4,000 people died, a quarter of them civilians, and suicide bombings jumped to 139 from 21 in 2005 and are expected to increase dramatically again this year.
NATO and the Afghan armed forces have launched their largest offensive ever in Helmand, targeting the Taliban and drug lords who are seeing record crops for the second year running.
Operation Achilles in northern Helmand involves 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghans.
