Afghan and US-led troops killed more than 60 Taliban rebels in two days of fierce fighting, while two Nato soldiers died in separate clashes, officials said Monday.
In a two-day battle in the opium-growing heartland of Helmand province, which ended Monday, around 50 Taliban were killed by Afghan and US-led coalition troops backed by warplanes, the coalition said in a statement.
Fighting erupted on Sunday when would-be Taliban suicide bombers drove an explosives-filled car towards the troops near the village of Shaban. The insurgents' vehicle was destroyed and two rebels inside were killed, the statement said. Coalition aircraft then dropped a total of four bombs to destroy the enemy compounds and hit other Taliban militants who later moved in to reinforce their comrades, it said.
Meanwhile, Afghan police aided by coalition forces killed another 14 "enemies of peace and stability" in neighbouring Zabul province in a 10-hour-long clash on Sunday, the interior ministry said in a statement.
In another incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up prematurely in western Nimroz province on Monday, killing another militant and injuring a third, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad told AFP.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said two of its soldiers were killed Monday in separate incidents, one in southern Afghanistan and one in the east of the country. There were no further details.