Allies 'kill 145 Taliban' in Operation Achilles

British, Nato and Afghan forces have launched offensives in the west and south of the country, with reports that "scores" of Taliban rebels have been killed during heavy fighting.

The battles took place in Shindbad, 80 miles south of Herat, and the Sangin Valley in Helmand, with about 4,500 Western and Afghan troops involved. The US military claimed 145 Taliban fighters had been killed in the west during fighting that claimed one American life.

The figures, if accurate, would mean the worst loss for the Islamist forces this year. But there has been no confirmation of them from either independent observers or the Taliban.

The district police chief for Shindbad, General Gul Aqa, said the operation had been American controlled and involved air strikes. He added that a "large number of people" had been killed, but could not say how many of them were members of the Taliban.

As General Aqa spoke, a large crowd gathered around the police station and government offices in the town chanting "death to America". One man, Mohammed Shahi, insisted "the people they have killed are not Taliban. They are ordinary people. They include children."

The US military said in a statement: "A total of seven enemy positions were destroyed, and 87 Taliban fighters were killed during a one-hour engagement. This adds to 49 killed earlier."

Unconfirmed reports stated that protesters had set fire to government offices and police had opened fire to disperse the crowd.

Western Afghanistan had seen relatively little violence compared to the volatile south. But US and British officials have claimed that Iran, which borders the region, has been supplying arms to the insurgents. The charges are similar to previous ones that Tehran is providing Shia militias in Iraq with explosive devices being used against US and British forces.

In the south, the British- led Operation Silicon, aimed at clearing the Taliban from the opium growing areas of Helmand, faced fierce resistance. The operation, involving more than 3,000 troops, Apache helicopters and armour, is part of a larger mission, Achilles, which is aimed at preventing a Taliban spring offensive.

The attack follows the decision by Nato to disperse Taliban forces in the Helmand area and cut off supply lines from Pakistan. There is also increasing evidence that the Islamists have been funding their campaign from controlling the production of poppies in the area.

Meanwhile, the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, and Pakistan's leader, General Pervez Musharraf, held a one-on-one meeting yesterday to discuss ways to combat the Afghan insurgency. The leaders met at Turkey's presidential palace in Istanbul to discuss how "they can work together to bring peace and stability to the region".

The Afghan government has repeatedly blamed Pakistan for giving refuge to the Taliban and using the country to launch raids across the border.President Karzai said he hoped that "this meeting will help us create a climate of trust between the two countries".

* Terrorist attacks worldwide shot up by 25 per cent between 2005 and last year, killing 40 per cent more people as extremists used increasingly lethal means to carry out high-casualty hits, the US State Department has said.

In its annual global survey of terrorism, the department said that about 14,000 attacks took place in 2006, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming more than 20,000 lives. That is 3,000 more attacks and 5,800 more deaths than in 2005, it said.