The U.S. military says Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces have killed dozens of Taliban fighters in southern Uruzgan province.
The military said the fighting, near the Deh Rawod district, erupted after a large group of insurgents ambushed a coalition patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire Tuesday.
A military statement said the insurgents moved into a nearby compound after the fighting began, causing women and children to flee the area.
It said four separate precision air strikes eliminated insurgents who were trying to reinforce the enemy positions.
In Afghanistan's western Herat province, authorities say unknown gunmen have kidnapped an Iranian engineer, who was working on a project to build a rail link between the two countries.
Officials say the man was abducted Tuesday at the project site in Ghoryan district near the border with Iran.
In other news, the Polish Defense Ministry said Tuesday that seven soldiers serving with the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan have been detained for the killing of civilians in the eastern part of the country.
The Afghan civilians were killed during a firefight between the Polish troops and militants on August 16. Poland currently has 1,200 troops serving in Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
