From the Sydney Morning Herald :

US warplanes working in support of Afghan ground forces pummeled Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 11 rebels in three days of fighting, the military said in a statement.

The fighting in the mountains of Kandahar and Zabul provinces has been going on since the end of August, and more than 100 suspected Taliban have been killed, according to US and Afghan officials. Four American soldiers have died during fighting in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

The fighting in Zabul and Kandahar is part of an operation dubbed "Mountain Viper" that has been going on for more than two weeks.

"Operation Mountain Viper continues to destroy the Taliban's ability to operate in the southern region of Afghanistan," the military said from Bagram Air Base, north of the capital Kabul.

The US military says it is inflicting heavy casualties on the rebels, but the ability of the militia to mount such stiff resistance over a sustained period has led to fears of a mounting security threat in Afghanistan, two years after the Taliban were ousted in a US-led bombing campaign.

Over the weekend, Taliban militants in eastern Paktia province began threatening residents that they would cut the nose of any Afghan caught listening to music, and any man who shaves his beard.

[...]

Last week, four Afghans working for a Danish charity were tied up and shot to death along the side of a road by suspected Taliban after having been warned several times to stop working with foreigners.