35 Militants Killed as Town Recaptured

U.S. and Afghan troops backed by warplanes recaptured a town from suspected Taliban rebels in heavy fighting, as violence across the south left as many as 35 militants dead, officials said.

The government, meanwhile, announced a shake-up of the country’s top police commanders after the worst anti-foreigner riots in years shook the capital, Kabul. Afghan investigators were set to launch an investigation of the fatal accident involving a U.S. military truck that sparked the riots.

U.S. and Afghan forces retook the southern town of Chori in heavy fighting that left as many as 20 militants dead, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi. The bodies of 15 insurgents were scattered around the town.