The US-led force in Afghanistan said Friday its troops had killed four Al-Qaeda-linked militants in an operation aimed at a network helping to move Arab and other foreign fighters into the country. The soldiers shot dead the four on Thursday close to the border with Pakistan in the eastern province of Paktia's Zurmat district, the force said in a statement. They were targeting an Al-Qaeda-linked militant "known to assist local Taliban leaders with the movement of Arabs and other foreign fighters into Afghanistan," it said. The group had carried out several suicide attacks and other bombings, the statement said. CIA Director Michael Hayden said in Washington Thursday that the Al-Qaeda network remains resilient having regrouped in Pakistan's tribal areas, which he described as a "safe haven" for the network. The United States led the invasion that removed the Taliban regime in 2001, weeks after the September 11 attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda, which had training camps in Afghanistan.