Kabul- Afghan commandos and US-led coalition forces killed two militants and arrested six others, including a Taliban commander, in an eastern town close to Kabul, the US military said Friday.

The combined forces conducted a raid on the house of a Taliban commander and his associates in Surobi district, some 50 kilometres east of Kabul city, on Thursday, a US military statement said.

"Friendly forces received small-arms fire as they searched the compound," the statement said, adding "After positively identifying the militants responsible, the forces returned fire, killing two."

The statement did not identify the arrested commander, but said that the joint forces seized two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, three AK-47s and one machine gun from the targeted compound.

No Afghan or coalition forces or civilians were killed in the operation, it added.

Taliban militants have recently penetrated several towns close to the capital city, posing threats to the country's most important city, where thousands of international forces are stationed.

Following their ouster in late 2001, Taliban militants regrouped and turned southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan into their strongholds and waged a bloody insurgency against the Western-backed Afghan government.

More than 4,000 people - mostly insurgents - have been killed in Afghanistan's conflict so far this year. (dpa)