Taliban commander surrounded

U.S. and Afghan forces have surrounded a Taliban commander in a central province, an Afghan official said on Friday, after fighting in which the U.S. military said 10 insurgents and an Afghan soldier were killed.

Uruzgan governor Jan Mohammad Khan said Afghan and U.S. forces launched an operation on Thursday after learning that Mullah Dadullah, a top commander and member of the Taliban leadership council, was in the area.

But a guerrilla spokesman denied Dadullah was in the area and spokesmen for the U.S. military and the Afghan Defense Ministry said they had no information he was there.

U.S. military spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said 10 Taliban had been killed in fighting after insurgents ambushed a patrol. It was the bloodiest clash since Sunday's nationwide elections, which passed off largely peacefully.

Khan said fighting was continuing. "We have information that Dadullah has come and is here," he said.

Reuters