The insurgents had moved into a civilian compound after attacking a military reconnaissance patrol in the southern province of Uruzgan on Tuesday, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

Women and children fled the compound. Afterwards the soldiers pinpointed the rebel fighters and “four separate precision air strikes effectively eliminated the insurgents,” it said.

A “large group of insurgents was killed,” it said.

The battle was typical of regular clashes between the security forces, who sometimes undertake patrols to provoke a reaction, and Taliban-linked insurgents who are capable of complex ambushes.

The coalition reported separately that one of its soldiers died Tuesday from a non-combat injury. It gave no details, including the nationality of the soldier.

More than 200 international troops have died in Afghanistan this year.

It also said that its soldiers at the weekend had freed seven people who had been captured by the Taliban.

During a search of a compound in the southern province of Zabul, soldiers found the seven in a room, five with their hands tied.

They were detained with 10 rebels. After questioning, it was found they were Taliban prisoners and they were released, a statement said.

One said that he and members of his family had been stopped by 10 masked Taliban while travelling to a wedding, it said.

“My brother-in-law had a contact in his cell (phone) which caused the Taliban to accuse all the men of being connected with or working for the government,” one man, identified as Sayed, was quoted as saying.

He said he was beaten with a cable until he agreed that he worked for the government.

The Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001. Their insurgency involves suicide attacks, ambushes on military forces, intimidation and a stream of propaganda against the government and its international allies.