US aircraft bombed a Taleban position in central Afghanistan killing eight militants in the latest violence in the run-up to a September 18 election, a provincial official said on Wednesday.
US and Afghan troops, acting on intelligence reports that Taleban had set up a base in the mountains of Uruzgan province, were met with a hail of bullets when they went to investigate on Tuesday, provincial governor Jan Mohammad Khan said, adding an air strike was called later.
"The Taleban showed resistance ... the US aircraft bombed the base," Khan told Reuters.
A US military spokeswoman said she had no information about the fighting.
A Taleban spokesman confirmed the latest fighting but, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, said 12 Afghan government troops and US soldiers had been killed.
US forces killed a senior Taleban commander in Uruzgan province last week. The man, Payenda Mohammed, had been responsible for a spate of attacks, the US military said.