KABUL: Afghanistan's military says 27 Taliban insurgents have been killed in ground fighting and airstrikes in a western province.

Western Afghanistan corps commander Gen. Jalandar Shah Behnam says troops dropped by parachute behind Taliban lines in Badghis province helped trap the militants in an offensive launched by NATO and Afghan forces.

He said fighting continued from the pre-dawn hours well into Tuesday afternoon.

He said that in addition to the 27 Taliban bodies collected, one Afghan soldier was killed and five wounded. One U.S. soldier was wounded.

Behnam described the targeted area as one that had emerged as a Taliban stronghold in the past three years. It lies on a key highway.