Kabul - Taliban militants have sustained heavy casualties in the latest operations by Afghan and NATO-led forces in the central province of Wardak, an Afghan provincial spokesman said Saturday. The operation started on Friday afternoon in Wardak's Chak district, which lies on the south-western border of Kabul city, Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told the German News Agency dpa.

"Based on our intelligence information, so far around 50 Taliban militants have been killed and wounded during the operation which is still ongoing," Shahid said, adding that two rebel commanders, Mullah Rahmatullah and Mullah Keramatullah, were among the dead.

He said the operation was conducted by hundreds of Afghan security forces and NATO-led ground troops, while NATO warplanes also pounded Taliban positions.

The operation left one Afghan army soldier dead, Shahid said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman confirmed the clashes, but rejected government casualty claims. (dpa)