Taleban guerrillas firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked an Afghan army post on Monday and killed 10 soldiers, a spokesman for the radical Islamic group said.
The rebels stormed the post in the Khashrud district of Nimroz province in the south of the country, the spokesman, Hakim Latifi, told Reuters by satellite phone.
The Governor of Nimroz, Karim Barawi, confirmed the attack but said, as far as he knew, four soldiers had been killed.
"Maybe more than four have been killed, but I know of only four," he said.
The Taleban were forced from power by US-led forces in late 2001 but their fighters have launched guerrilla attacks against US and government forces and aid workers ever since, particularly in the south and east of the country.
Nearly 500 people have been killed since August, raising fears that the Taleban and their militant allies were regrouping in remote areas along the Pakistan border.
About 12,000 US-led forces are in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the radical group and their al Qaeda allies led by Osama bin Laden.