Five Taliban killed in Nato-led raid

The five, two of which were Pakistani nationals, were killed on Saturday as planes from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) bombed a rebel stronghold in the Garmsir district of southern Helmand province, it said.

Those killed included a mid-level Taliban commander, the Afghan intelligence department said.

Also on Saturday, two militants were killed when a bomb they were planting on a road used by Afghan and foreign troops exploded prematurely near the provincial capital Lashkargah, the ministry added.

Garmsir in the far-east of the restive Helmand province was overtaken twice by Taliban militants earlier this year.

In another operation, security forces in the area also captured several militants who were carrying bombs, the ministry said, without giving details.

Taliban ousted by a US-led invasion five years ago are still active in eastern and southern Afghanistan.

They have carried out almost daily attacks this year making it the bloodiest since the toppling of their regime in late 2001.

Nearly 4,000 people, most of them militants, have been killed in violence this year.