20 Taliban killed ahead of Nato's expansion in south

The fighting erupted after a group of Taliban militants attempted an ambush in the Shahidi Asssas district of Uruzgan province late Saturday, it said.

"Afghan National Army and coalition forces killed 20 Taliban extremists ... after they attempted an ambush from a compound," a military statement said, without giving details about the compound.

The coalition forces responded with artillery and air strikes, the statement said.

The clash was the latest in a spate of violence in the south, where a Nato force will take over from the US-led coalition on Monday. The military reported no casualties among coalition forces or Afghan troops.

Uruzgan, one of the four southern provinces where Nato will take charge on Monday, has seen much activity by the Taliban and other Islamic militants. Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand and Zabul provinces also see almost daily Taliban attacks mainly targeting Afghan and foreign troops.

On Friday 18 Taliban fighters -- 14 of them in Helmand -- and four Afghan policemen were killed in fighting with Afghan and coalition troops.

Thousands of US-led troops and Nato peacekeeping forces remain in Afghanistan following the toppling of the fundamentalist Taliban regime in late 2001.

Nato, which took command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) almost three years ago, will take charge of security in the south from the US-led coalition.

With the move the number of troops in six southern provinces will double to 8,000.

By expanding its presence to the restive south, Nato knows that it is putting not only its credibility but probably also its future on the line.

"It is the toughest ground mission, if not the toughest mission overall, the alliance with other partners has ever embarked on," ISAF spokesman Major Luke Knittig said last week.