U.S. forces kill 'high-level Taliban'

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 24 (UPI) -- U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed a "high-level Taliban," the BBC reported Thursday.

Raz Mohammed and two other suspected Taliban militants were killed in the province of Paktika, close to the border with Pakistan.

A gunfight started when coalition troops tried to capture Mohammed and he and other Taliban forces responded by opening fire, a U.S. military statement said.

An Afghan woman and two children also died in the exchange of fire, the statement said.

The U.S.-led coalition has about 18,000 troops in Afghanistan hunting Taliban and al-Qaida militants.