(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-28 18:56

KABUL, Afghanistan -- US-led coalition forces killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a series of increasingly bloody engagements in the region, officials said Sunday.

The battle near Musa Qala in Helmand province - the world's largest poppy growing region - is at least the fifth major fight in the area since September 1. The five battles have killed more than 250 Taliban fighters, a possible sign that US or British forces could be trying to wrest the area back from militants.

The latest fight began Saturday when Taliban insurgents attacked a combined US coalition and Afghan patrol with rockets and gunfire, prompting the combined force to call in attack aircraft, resulting in "almost seven dozen Taliban fighters killed," the US-led coalition said in a statement.

The coalition said four bombs were dropped on a trench line filled with fighters, resulting in most of the deaths. It said there were no immediate reports of civilian casualties.

The coalition said it killed about 50 militants in two days of fighting in Musa Qala on October 19-20, and that it killed more than 100 fighters there on September 26.

Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the top US commander in Afghanistan, declined to comment on the Musa Qala battles.

Speaking at a news conference in Kabul on Sunday, bases the fighters have "east of Kunar," a reference to neighboring Pakistan.

Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town following a contentious peace agreement that handed over security responsibilities to Afghan elders. Musa Qala has been in control of Taliban fighters ever since.

Situated in northern Helmand, Musa Qala and the region around it have been the front line of the bloodiest fighting this year. It is also the heartland of Afghanistan's illicit opium poppy farms.

Violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion. More than 5,200 people have died this year due to the insurgency, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.

Rodriguez said it could take between 18 months and two years for Afghan forces to be able to conduct major operations on their own. He said Afghan forces excel at small unit tactics and coordinating with the Afghan people but still need to improve their command structure, the use of air power, their logistics support and medical capabilities.

Afghan army and police forces have increased their patrols alongside U.S. and NATO forces and have taken the lead on two joint NATO-Afghan operations this year.