Kabul - In the most recent clashes in volatile southern Afghanistan at least 36 Taliban militants were killed, officials said Wednesday.

A group of Taliban militants attacked a convoy of Afghan and US-led coalition forces in Faizabad area of Nawbahar in southern Zabul province on Tuesday, sparking a three-hour gun battle in the area, Ghulom Jailani Farahi, provincial security chief, said.

The combined forces called in air support and as a result 21 Taliban militants were killed, he said, adding that no Afghan or coalition soldiers were killed or wounded in the firefight.

"Seven Arab and three Pakistani fighters' dead bodies were identified among the bodies of the militants recovered by the joint forces," Farahi said.

Ten other militants were killed in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Tuesday in a joint operation of Afghan and NATO-led British troops, Mohammad Hussain Andewal, provincial police chief said.

Five militants were killed in Nawbahar district of the same Helmand province on Tuesday, the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement.

Due to remoteness of the area, it was difficult to verify the claimed death toll for the militants independently.

Around 3,800 people - mostly insurgents - have been killed so far this year in violence, according to figures provided by Afghan government and international military sources. (dpa)