The US-led coalition in Afghanistan said yesterday its troops had killed almost a dozen militants after coming under attack while operating near the border with Pakistan.
Two people were detained during the operation in the eastern province of Paktika on Thursday, the coalition said in a statement.
Troops were in Barmal, a district on the border, looking for militants involved in moving foreign fighters between the two countries when they were fired upon, it said.
"Militants engaged coalition forces during their search of the compounds. The forces responded with small-arms fire, killing the militants," it said.
"Almost a dozen militants were killed and two were detained."
The coalition announced Thursday that it had killed more than 100 Taliban militants in three days of clashes in the southern province of Helmand.
Fighting between insurgents and troops has intensified this summer with several fierce battles reported across the country, many resulting in high death tolls.
However a clash in the western province of Herat a week ago killed more than 90 civilians, most of them children, according to investigations by delegations from the Afghan government and the United Nations.
The US military disputes the number.
There are nearly 70,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan, helping the government to root out extremists including those from the hardline Taliban movement that was in government between 1996 and 2001.