Up to 22 Taliban killed in central Afghanistan

British troops from the Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), take a rest hours after being inserted by helicopter into a Taliban-held area of Afghanistan's Helmand province during operation Panther's Claw, July 10, 2009. British troops have fac

KABUL – Fighting overnight between international troops and Taliban militants in central Afghanistan has left as many as 22 insurgents dead, police said Friday.

Provincial police chief Khail Boz Sherzai said the militants were killed in an airstrike in Ghazni province.

But the U.S.-led coalition gave a conflicting account of the fighting.

A U.S. military statement only said that "several" militants died, and spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the toll given by police sounded high.

She also said there were no airstrikes. The clash began as Afghan and international troops pursued militants in Giro district. Militants open fired and the troops fired back, Mathias said.

The international troops also confiscated grenades, guns and ammunition found in a weapons cache during the operation, which the military said disrupted an insurgent cell.

There were no reports of casualties among the international and Afghan troops.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said two police officers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Kandahar district on Thursday, near the Pakistani border. Five others were wounded in the blast, the ministry said in a statement.