KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S.-led coalition said Thursday that it had killed more than 30 insurgents in a battle in eastern Afghanistan, fighters an Afghan governor said were responsible for an attack that killed 10 French troops this week.
Lutfullah Mashal, the governor of Laghman province, said coalition bombs targeted fighters on the border of Laghman and Kabul provinces. He said the insurgents were fleeing the valley where Monday’s attack on the French took place.
Three Polish soldiers were killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded in the central province of Ghazni, Polish Defense Ministry spokesman Jacek Poplawski said Thursday. A fourth soldier was wounded.
In Kabul on Thursday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to cooperate more, “particularly in dealing with the insurgents who are coming across the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan.”
This year is on course to become the deadliest yet for the international forces in Afghanistan. One hundred seventy- eight foreign troops, including nearly 100 Americans, have died this year, according to an Associated Press count. In all of 2007, 222 international troops died.
