Afghan officials say NATO-led forces killed at least 65 Taliban rebels Saturday night in airstrikes near the country's eastern border with Pakistan.
However, NATO's International Security Assistance Force could not confirm the number of casualties because of the battle site's remote location.
The Afghan interior ministry said Sunday that the Taliban rebels were smuggling weapons on horses and two cars in the province of Paktia, when NATO and Afghan forces engaged them and called in air support.
Elsewhere in Paktia, officials say airstrikes killed three Taliban militants who had been planting mines near the provincial capital of Gardez.
More than six thousand people have died in Afghanistan this year in insurgency-related violence.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
