Afghan forces said on Thursday they had killed 50 more Taliban militants in the heaviest fighting in a western province. An operation by local and Nato troops to retake a district in the increasingly troubled Farah province from the hard-line rebels entered its third day, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Gul Sarjang said.
"The fighting is still ongoing in Gulistan district. We killed 20 more Taliban since yesterday," Sarjang said. "Five soldiers and seven police have also been killed so far."
On Wednesday Afghan police said up to 40 Taliban militants were killed and 20 wounded. The Taliban dispute the casualty figures and maintain they are in control of the district.
The figures could not be independently confirmed. The Afghan interior and defence ministries were not immediately available for comment. Separately police said on Wednesday that they had surrounded more than 200 militants and killed 50 in the southern district of Arghandab, close to Kandahar, the former powerbase of the Taliban.