SECRET strike operations led by British and American Special Forces have taken out 3,200 Taliban insurgents in just 90 DAYS.

The huge haul was achieved in an "autumn showdown" - launched to crush the Taliban before they skulk off for winter.

British SAS and SBS fighters, US Delta Force units, Afghan Special Forces Tiger Teams and elite outfits from other coalition troops hit the enemy rele More..ntlessly for three months.

Of the 3,200 killed or captured in covert strikes, 387 were top-level commanders. The figures were handed to SAS hero and Sun Security Adviser Andy McNab at a top level briefing in the Afghan capital Kabul.

He said: "We are nailing the Taliban. We are killing and capturing them on an industrial scale.

"This wasn't a blanket approach to killing. These are tactical missions. Troopers are now specifically targeting the Taliban leadership, and those who fight FOR the Taliban.

"Our guys weren't targeting those who simply fought WITH the Taliban. There is a clear distinction. Some are fighting because they need the money or too frightened not to. They are not fighting for hate or the ideology.

"Of course, some commanders worry that younger, more radical Taliban fighters will take the place of dead leaders.

"But, talking to the guys who conduct these covert operations, they weren't unduly worried about it.

"If a new generation of radical Taliban step into these dead men's shoes, they too will be killed or captured."

The operations are part of the push towards a Nato handover of control in Afghanistan to Afghan National Forces and police by 2014.