KABUL, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces on Thursday killed four Al-Qaeda associated militants in an operation to thwart the foreign fighter network in eastern Afghan province of Paktia, said a Coalition statement released here on Friday.

    Coalition forces targeted an Al-Qaeda associated militants known to assist local Taliban leaders who have carried out many suicide and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in the region in Zurmat district, the statement said.

    "As the force approached the targeted militants, they refused to follow instructions and attempted to engage the force with AK-47s," it said. "Coalition forces engaged those militants with small-arms fire and killed them."

    Multiple AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades and pistols were discovered and destroyed on the spot, it added.

    Meanwhile, in another operation against IED maker on Wednesday in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan, Afghan National Security forces (ANSF), assisted by Coalition forces, captured an IED expert Badshah Khel in Sabari district.

    Badshah Khel is one of the most active IED cell commanders in the area and responsible for numerous attacks against Coalition and ANSF in the region.

    Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed over 5,000 people including more than 1500 civilians so far this year in strife-torn Afghanistan.