14 Suspected Taliban Rebels Killed in Clash

U.S. and Afghan forces backed by helicopter gunships killed 14 suspected Taliban fighters in central Afghanistan in the heaviest clashes since Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

One Afghan soldier died and a U.S. soldier was wounded in the fighting in the southern province of Oruzgan. U.S. forces used air power for the first time since postelection comments by President Hamid Karzai questioning the need for it.

In northern Afghanistan, gunmen killed a popular local singer and six companions. The motive for the attack in Jowzjan province was unclear, and there was no immediate indication the killings were linked to the Taliban insurgency.