10 militants killed in E Afghan airstrike

GHAZNI, Afghanistan - Ten militants were killed earlier on Monday in an airstrike in the country's eastern province of Ghazni, an army source said.

"On an intelligence tip, the warplanes of the NATO-led coalition forces pounded a militant hideout in Koh-Band area of Muqur district, killing 10 militants at wee hours of Monday," an army spokesman in the region Nazifullah Sultani told Xinhua. ?

He said the raid was called in by the Afghan army officials in the province, 120 km south of national capital Kabul.

"In the army follow up operation, 10 dead bodies were found. A Taliban key commander in the area named Shah Mohammad was among the dead," the source noted.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group launched rebel offensive in April against Afghan government forces and more than 78,000 NATO-led troops stationed in the country.

At early Monday morning, four security personnel, three civilians and four militants were killed when Taliban launched an attack on a security check-post in western Herat province. ?

The Taliban has not made comments so far.