KABUL, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed nearly three dozen insurgents overnight in a series of confrontations in southern areas rife with Taliban guerrillas, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

Nearly two dozen insurgents were killed in two separate clashes in the southern province of Kandahar on Tuesday, while 10 more were killed in fighting in the neighbouring province of Uruzgan, the U.S. military said.

"Two attempted insurgent ambushes failed Sept. 4 as Afghan National Security Forces, advised by coalition forces, repelled and killed nearly two dozen enemy fighters in separate battles in northern Kandahar province," the U.S. military said in a statement.

Taliban fighters attacked an observation post near a coalition base in Uruzgan province with rocket-propelled grenades, it added.

The Taliban had no immediate comment, and there was no independent account of what had happened.

The clashes were the latest in a number of confrontations in the Taliban-dominated south in recent weeks in which the U.S.-led military says coalition forces have killed hundreds of insurgents. The Taliban concede some losses, but say Afghan and foreign troops vastly exaggerate enemy death tolls.

Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban's government in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

More than 7,000 people have been killed during that period.

AlertNet news is provided by