Kabul, Oct 28 : Nearly 80 Taliban militants were killed when they tried to ambush a patrol of Afghan and international soldiers in the south Afghanistan, the US-led international coalition has said.

The coalition said that the troops were forced to call in air support when they were ambushed in the highly volatile province of Helmand.

"The combined patrol immediately returned fire, manoeuvred, and employed close air support, resulting in death of almost seven dozen Taliban militants," it said in a statement.

The attackers fled after the clash in the town of Musa Qala, said the statement, which made no reference to any coalition or civilian casualties.

The Afghan commander for Helmand told a foreign news agency that only the Taliban had sustained casualties.

"Our initial assessment is that over 73 Taliban were killed in the direct fire and air bombing," The News quoted an Afghan General Mohaidin Ghori, as saying.

"The attacks took place at different hours of the day in different locations. There have been no casualties to civilians and our forces."

He said forces patrolling the outskirts of Musa Qala, which has been held by the Taliban since February, came under attack in four different places, adding: "The forces repelled the attacks and called in air support."

Separately, a joint Afghan and international patrol in the neighbouring province of Kandahar on Saturday killed several Taliban, the coalition said.

This time, "the Afghan National Security forces spotted the enemies before they could carry out their attack," said coalition spokesman Chris Belcher.

"The patrol immediately engaged the Taliban element, killing several enemy fighters before they fled the area," the coalition said.