KAJAKI, Afghanistan, Jan 14, SPA -- British troops crawled up a dusty, barren hill in pre-dawn light to launch an attack on a Taliban position that left 16 suspected insurgents and one British Marine dead. Snipers set up positions on the hilltop as troops creptclose to a mud-brick compound where NATO commanders said insurgents, who were disrupting planned work on a dam project, were staying. Dutch and British Apache attack helicopters swooped over villages and hills, firing missiles into the compoundsbelieved used by the insurgents. Troops engaged in rolling duels with militants. American aircraft joined in thebattle, dropping 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs. Troops opened canisters of billowing smoke to flush out the fighters, and red and black smoke later rose into the air as troops moved away from the engagement site, the Associated Press reported. A British soldier and 16 suspected Taliban were killedduring Saturday's six-hour operation, said Maj. MartinCollins, commanding officer of the 42 Commando RoyalMarines at the British outpost at Kajaki in the southernprovince of Helmand.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/417869