The death toll in a fierce battle between Afghan troops and Taleban fighters in Afghanistan has increased to 25, officials say.
Some 300 army troops were said to have been involved in fighting
|
Five policemen and some 20 Taleban fighters are said to have been killed in the fighting in Helmand province.
Helmand's deputy governor told the BBC that at one point, he and 100 soldiers were surrounded by 200 Taleban.
Correspondents say it is the most serious fighting between the government and the Taleban for two years.
Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf denied reports of Taleban deaths, saying only two fighters had been wounded.
"The fighting is ongoing. There are new reinforcements
in all of these areas," provincial deputy governor Amir Mohammad
Akhundzada is quoted as saying by AFP.
Other officials said US aircraft dropped bombs on the fighters.
Troops retreat
The attack comes days after UK Defence Secretary John
Reid said 3,300 British troops would be sent to Helmand to help
reconstruction efforts there.
The Deputy Governor, Haji Mullah Mir, said that he and
the surrounded troops only managed to break through the Taleban after
200 more soldiers arrived to help them.
He said the fighting started after a local police
commander travelled to Helmand's Sangeen district in pursuit of Taleban
forces from the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Mr Mir and his detachment came to the police commander's
aid, but found themselves surrounded when the Taleban attacked from
four different points.
He said troops retreated because they said civilians could have been killed if the fighting continued.
Earlier this month, an Afghan aid worker was killed in Helmand by suspected Taleban members. | 
