U.S.-led and Afghan government troops have killed about six insurgents in a battle in central Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.
The clash erupted when gunmen fired on what the U.S. military called an offensive patrol in the restive central province of Uruzgan on Friday.
“An estimated six enemy fighters were killed; the remainder fled the area,” the U.S. military said in a statement issued late on Friday.
Taliban insurgents, battling U.S. and Afghan troops since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban government in late 2001, launch frequent raids in the province.
The U.S. military, which said no Afghan or U.S.-led troops had been hurt in the clash, said its offensive patrols were aimed at rooting out insurgents and disrupting supplies.
“Such patrols are being conducted through the winter months to deny the enemy sanctuary and hinder the enemy’s supply efforts,” it said.
Also on Friday, a U.S. airstrike in neighboring Pakistan targeted al-Qaida’s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, but it was unclear whether he had been killed, U.S. sources knowledgeable about the strike said.
The Taliban and their Islamic militant allies are mostly active in the south and east, close to the border with Pakistan.
About 20,000 U.S.-led troops are battling the insurgents and hunting their leaders. NATO has about 10,000 peacekeepers concentrated in Kabul, the north and west.
More than 50 U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes and bomb attacks last year, the bloodiest period for U.S. forces since the Taliban was ousted.
