Four Taleban fighters and one Afghan government soldier are dead in a major two-day battle in Afghanistan's southeast.
Fighting continued into a second day as Afghan and U.S. forces struck at insurgent positions in the mountains of Uruzgan province.
Provincial Governor Jan Mohammed Khan says government troops also captured at least eight militants loyal to Afghanistan's former Taleban regime. He says the fighting took place in the Char Cheno region, as part of a U.S.-Afghan offensive, following a Sunday attack by suspected Taleban, which killed four Uruzgan security officers.
The Afghan insurgency, waged by the Taleban and other dissident militants, has intensified in recent weeks, with about 300 combatants and civilians dead in the past six weeks.