US forces 'kill Afghan militants'

The operation involved US and Afghan ground troops

US-led forces have killed 17 militants in a clash in southern Afghanistan, a US military spokeswoman has said.

The operation with Afghan troops in Kandahar province was one of the deadliest for almost a year.

Afghan officials say the dead were Taleban fighters. Three US Marines were slightly injured, a spokeswoman told the Associated Press news agency.

The US has 20,000 troops in the country and has vowed to crush militants opposed to the Afghan government.

Mountainous terrain

Afghan officials said the fighting broke out on Wednesday as US and Afghan forces, backed by US aircraft, began an operation in the Miana Shien district of Kandahar province.

About 300 Afghan troops and an unspecified number of US soldiers engaged suspected militants in mountainous terrain, said Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government.

Mr Pashtun's version of events differed slightly from the Americans - he said 13 militants had died and eight were captured.

"The government troops are chasing the [suspected militants] into the nearby mountains," he said.

The death toll is one of the worst since fighting in neighbouring Zabul province last August in which the Americans say about 100 suspected Taleban fighters were killed.

On Wednesday, the Taleban said it had killed five relief workers of Medecins Sans Frontieres, including three foreigners, in north-west Afghanistan.

The organisation has suspended operations in the country.

Taleban forces have been resurgent in recent months, particularly in the south and east, and have vowed to topple the government of President Hamid Karzai.