Fifteen insurgents were killed and 13 others captured during a joint operation by Afghan and NATO forces in the southern Kandahar province, an Afghan official said today.

The operation targeted suspected insurgent strongholds in Arghistan and Maruf districts, according to provincial spokesman Zelmai Ayubi.

The operation began at 4 am yesterday and continued until 6 pm that night, he said.

NATO and Afghan forces have been trying to seize control of the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan since July.

They have established some pockets of security but the ultimate success of the operation will depend on the Afghan government’s ability to secure the area with its own forces and provide services to the population.

Also in the south, a rocket attack in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, killed one civilian and wounded four, said Kamaluddin Khan, the provincial deputy police chief.

NATO meanwhile said a service member was killed by a bomb in eastern Afghanistan.

The statement about today’s death did not give the service member’s nationality or other details.

Insurgents often cross over the border into mountainous eastern Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan.

The latest death brings to 621 the number of NATO soldiers killed this year.