Afghan gun battle kills 15 insurgents

Up to 15 militants have been killed and three others detained as clash flared up in Dand-e-Ghori district of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province on Monday, provincial governor Abdul Sattar Bariz said.

According to the official, three more militants have been captured and a weapon cache of the insurgents destroyed during the fighting which erupted early Monday.

The strategically important Dand-e-Ghori district outside provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri 160 km north of Kabul was overrun by Taliban couple of months ago and the government forces have yet to recapture it.

Taliban fighters would threat the provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri and the highway linking Kabul to the northern provinces if the government fails to dislodge militants from Dand-e-Ghori, observers said. Enditem