At least two government soldiers and one Taliban guerrilla were killed after militants attacked a government post in the southern province of Helmand, officials said today.
Helmand governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada said about 30 guerrillas mounted an attack between the provincial capital Lashkargah and the town of Girishk last night.
"Two government soldiers were killed and two wounded and from the Taliban side we found one dead body and one wounded."
The governor said about 300 government soldiers began an operation in pursuit of the guerrillas today.
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted another government official, Helmand's security chief Dad Mohammad Khan as saying that three government soldiers were killed in the attack and three wounded.
He said government forces had pursued the guerrillas into neighbouring Kandahar province and had captured a guerrilla mountain base.
"Fighting between our forces and the Taliban is still going on," he said.
More than 350 people have been killed in a wave of violence across Afghanistan since early August, much of it linked to the Taliban, which has regrouped as a guerrilla force since its overthrow by US-led forces in late 2001.