KABUL: Nato says it has killed more than 10 insurgents and captured two others in an operation targeting a Taliban leader in north Afghanistan.

The coalition said in a statement Monday that its forces, along with their Afghan counterparts, were searching for a Taliban leader who was the district leader of Khanabad in Kunduz province. The coalition says he is linked to Taliban leaders in Pakistan and is involved in aiding the insurgents with roadside bombs and weapons.

Nato said troops attempted to draw the occupants out of the compound where the man was believed to be. When that failed, they entered the compound, a gunbattle ensured, and several insurgents were killed.

Kunduz police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedhkaili said 13 people were killed.