Joint Afghan-NATO operation kills Taliban commander and 50 rebels

The defense ministry in Kabul reported that Mullah Hashim was killed with 50 of his fighters in a joint air and ground operation near Deh Rawood in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan. NATO forces in this province are under Dutch command. In Kandahar, two US troops were killed by a road mine during a security patrol.
Nearly 30 coalition troops have died in Afghanistan so far this year, more than 200 in 2007, as well as more than 6,000 Afghans, one third of them civilians. At a summit in April, the US will again appeal to NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan. France is reported to be ready to offer 1,000 soldiers.