Afghan and NATO-led troops have killed some 50 Taliban fighters surrounded in a district close to the main southern city of Kandahar, the provincial police chief said today.
Fighting has surged across Afghanistan in the past week as Taliban insurgents and Afghan government and foreign forces attempt to consolidate positions before the onset of winter.
Taliban fighters moved into the Arghandab district, only some 12 km (8 miles) from Kandahar, last week after a pro-government tribal leader who held the area died of a heart attack two weeks ago leaving the northern approach to Kandahar exposed.
Afghan army and troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) launched an operation around Arghandab this week to wrest back control of the area, local officials said.
Some 50 Taliban have been killed in the fighting around Arghandab since Monday and yesterday and at least another 25 have been wounded, said Kandahar police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.
But some 200 to 250 Taliban insurgents were still in the area.
"The rest of the Taliban are surrounded and they cannot escape or be reinforced," he said.
Three Afghan police and one Afghan army soldier have also been killed in the fighting, he said.