Forces kill 36 insurgents

Afghan and Canadian forces moved into villages outside Kandahar on Wednesday to root out Taliban militants, killing at least 36 insurgents, while an explosion elsewhere killed four British soldiers, officials said. Troops in Arghandab district just outside of Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city, exchanged fire with militants during “a few minor contacts,” NATO spokesman Mark Laity said. The Afghan Defense Ministry said more than 20 Taliban fighters had been killed in Tabin, a village in Arghandab, while 16 fighters were killed in Khohak, also in Arghandab.