Several dozen Taliban said killed in Afghan clashes

KABUL, Aug 7 (Reuters) Several dozen Taliban fighters were killed in two separate clashes with Western-led troops in Afghanistan today, Afghan and coalition forces said.

Almost two dozen of more than 75 insurgents were killed in a battle after they attacked a heavily-defended coalition base with small and heavy arms fire in the southern province of Uruzgan, the US military said in a statement.

Airstrikes were used to destroy the attackers, it added.

In another clash in neighbouring Kandahar province, 15 Taliban were killed after they attacked a police post, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib said.

Six police were also killed in the Taliban attack, he said, adding Afghan and NATO-led forces were conducting an operation there.

No Taliban member could be immediately contacted about the reported militant losses.

Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since the removal of the Taliban from power in 2001.

Reuters PY GC1940