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US military: 14 insurgents killed in clashes in eastern Afghanistan | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – U.S. and Afghan troops fought off coordinated insurgent attacks in eastern Afghanistan, leaving a dozen militants dead and a dozen more wounded, the U.S. military said Monday.

As many as 40 insurgents attacked five military outposts Sunday in the Korangal Valley of volatile eastern Kunar province, using small arms fire, rockets and mortars, the military said in a statement.

The joint force returned fire and called in airstrikes that left 12 militants dead and 12 others wounded, the coalition said. No U.S. or Afghan soldiers were hurt.

The Korangal Valley is one of the most volatile areas in Afghanistan. Korangal’s high mountains, densely wooded and riddled with caves, are used by militants to launch near-daily attacks on remote U.S. bases. More than 1,000 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

In neighboring Nangarhar province, a raid targeting a bomb maker sparked a clash that left two militants and an Afghan soldier dead, another coalition statement said.

Four other suspected insurgents were arrested during the operation Sunday in Bati Kot district, it said.