Afghan army says kills "dozens" of insurgents

The clash broke out following reports of an ambush by theinsurgents in Zabul, the ministry said in a statement.

"Thirty-four bodies of terrorists, among them a number offoreigners, have been collected from the battlefield," it said,adding some ammunitions were also seized.

It did not say if there were any casualties among theAfghan troops. The interior ministry said police forces werealso involved and put the number of Taliban deaths as high as70.

If confirmed, the losses would be the bloodiest for themilitants in a single day in recent weeks in Afghanistan.

A provincial police official put the Taliban death toll at37 and said two soldiers were wounded.

The Taliban, who lead the insurgency against the governmentand foreign troops, could not be contacted immediately forcomment.

Violence has escalated in Afghanistan since 2006 when theTaliban, ousted from power in 2001, regrouped to drive out thetroops and topple the Western-backed central government.

In neighbouring Ghazni province, Afghan security forces andNATO-led forces were still engaged in a joint operation theylaunched on Wednesday to retake a district from the Taliban,the alliance said.

Afghan and NATO officials said the militants had sufferedsome casualties.

Taliban militants captured the local governmentheadquarters of the remote Ajristan district on Sunday, part ofa campaign of seizing remote outposts and forcing thinly spreadsecurity forces to respond in a game of cat-and-mouse.

Separately, seven Afghan police were killed in two separateroadside bomb attacks in other parts of Afghanistan, officialssaid.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Paul Tait)