英语文摘：38 militants killed in E. Afghanistan

KHOST, Afghanistan, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and NATO-led troops eliminated 38 anti-government militants in Khost province east of Afghanistan, provincial police chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai said Saturday.

"The clash erupted in Musa Khil district Friday night and so far 38 Taliban rebels have been killed," Ishaqzai told Xinhua.

He said Afghan and NATO-led troops with the support of aircraft targeted Taliban hideouts.

Some 200 Taliban insurgents are involved in the battle and the troops are determined to kill and arrest the insurgents, said the official.

An Afghan hospital worker takes a weapon out of a car that belonged to a Taliban militant whose body is seen in a car after he was killed in Ghazni province May 24, 2010.

Meantime, locals say that five persons including three children were killed during the air strike in Musa Khil district. However, Ishaqzai rejected the claim saying neither troops nor civilians have been killed in the operation.

Taliban militants have yet to make comment.