Taliban militants have shot and killed a man for teaching English in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a gunbattle that left two militants and two policemen dead.

Provincial officials Thursday said the man was teaching English courses at a school in the eastern Paktia province when he was killed Wednesday.

Police arrived on the scene and clashed with militants, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Taliban militants have destroyed a number of schools in Afghanistan and repeatedly target those seen as sympathetic to foreign governments.

Separately, U.S-led coalition troops Thursday said they killed several militants in an operation on Wednesday in the southern Helmand province.

This year has been the deadliest in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government in 2001. Taliban militants have established strongholds in the south and east, attacking U.S. and NATO troops and Afghan soldiers in ambushes and suicide bombings.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.