KABUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 militants were killed Friday in Operation Medusa in Panjwai District of the southern Kandahar Province of Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

    The rebels were killed on the seventh day of the operation, which was launched on Saturday by around 2,000 ISAF and Afghan troops to wipe out rebels in Panjwai and Zhari districts.

    ISAF killed the insurgents through "aggressive patrolling and the coordinated use of both direct and indirect fire," the statement said.

    ISAF said the operation is designed to defeat the insurgents in the two districts so that displaced residents can return to their homes, allowing much-needed reconstruction and development projects to take place in relative stability.

    Operation Medusa is the largest one against Taliban rebels since ISAF took command of southern Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition forces on July 31.

    Over 300 Taliban militants have been killed and at least 80 captured in the operation, according to ISAF, which also said more than 700 militants have been besieged in the districts by ISAF and Afghan troops.

    However, a senior Taliban commander has rejected the saying, claiming only about 10 militants have lost their lives.

    Panjwai, about 40 km west of Kandahar City, capital of Kandahar Province, has been a hotbed of Taliban militants, who attack ISAF and Afghan troops frequently.

    About 10,000 ISAF troops are deployed in southern Afghanistan, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban, to fight insurgents there.

    Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,200 people, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed. Among the fatalities are more than 100 foreign troops. Enditem