AFGHANISTAN - June 19 - 30 Killed In Dual Ambushes By Taliban.

A pair of deadly Taliban ambushes of civilian convoys leave 30 people deadas coalition and Afghan forces kill at least 11 militants in an ongoing US-led offensive across southern Afghanistan. More than 10,000 coalition and Afghan troops are fanning out across four volatile southern provinces to try to kill or capture Taliban militants who are launching attacks from mountain ranges. The militants have been responsible for the deadliest spate of violence since the extremist regime was toppled in 2001 by a US-led invasion force. But despite the launch of Operation Mountain Thrust, the bloodshed has continued. Early June 18, a former district chief in Helmand Province, Jama Gul, was killed along with his four bodyguards on the highway outside of Sangin district, relatives and officials said. Hours later, militants ambushed a convoy carrying about 40 of the slain official's relatives who were traveling to collect his body, killing 25 people and wounding 4, said Gul's brother, the lawmaker Dad Muhammad Khan. In separate clashes, Afghan and coalition soldiers killed 11 militants in Uruzgan and Zabul provinces, where Mountain Thrust is being conducted. US and Afghan forces raided a mountain Taliban stronghold near Tirin Kot, Uruzgan's provincial capital, and killed seven militants on June 18 said Gen Rahmatullah Roufi, an Afghan army commander. In neighbouring Zabul Province, coalition forces killed four suspected Taliban militants June 18 in the mountainous Khak-e-Afghan district, said the provincial police chief, Noor Muhammad. Two wounded militants were arrested. Operation Mountain Thrust is the largest military offensive since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. Since the operation rolled out in earnest last week, about 100 suspected militants have been killed. At least 9 coalition soldiers have died in combat since mid-May. More than 600 people, mostly militants, have been killed in the past month as insurgents launched increasingly bold attacks, including suicide bombings and ambushes, against coalition forces. US soldiers have moved deep into remote southern Afghan mountains, setting up positions aimed at blocking Taliban movement and supply routes. For the first time in several years on June 18, coalition soldiers ventured into Baghran Valley in the northern part of Helmand Province, quickly setting up artillery and fortified defenses on a high ridge line overlooking routes below.