Kandahar, January 13:

Troops have killed 12 Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan and shot dead a would-be suicide attacker apparently planning to attack a patrol, officials said today.

The insurgents were killed last night when troops called in air strikes during a battle in Helmand province, said the Afghan army general in the area, Muhaidin Ghori.

In the adjoining province of Kandahar, a man planning a suicide bomb attack against a patrol of Afghan police and international soldiers was spotted and shot dead today.