A four-day battle that began with an ambush on a joint U.S-Afghan patrol in southern Afghanistan has killed more than 100 militants, the coalition said Thursday.Militants wielding rocket-propelled grenades, guns and mortars attacked the joint patrol in the southern province of Helmand multiple times starting Monday, the coalition said. The combined force called in fighter aircraft for support.
Capt. Scott Miller, a coalition spokesman, said he couldn't provide further details, including a more precise location of the fighting, because the battle was continuing. The coalition statement said no Afghan, coalition or civilian casualties had been reported.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. coalition soldier in southern Afghanistan on a patrol Wednesday. Neither the nationality of the soldier nor the location of the attack was released.
In the Nad Ali area of Helmand province, a fight between police and militants killed 14 insurgents late Wednesday, said Daud Ahmedi, the governor's spokesman.
More than 3,700 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan and Western officials.