In southern Zabul province, NATO and Afghan troops clashed with militants and called in airstrikes, leaving 27 suspected Taliban insurgents dead in the district of Shinkay, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

The operation followed intelligence reports of militant activity in the area, Azimi said. There were no reports of civilian casualties, he said.

Neither claim could be independently verified because the incidents occurred in remote areas.

After a winter lull, there has been a sharp spike in clashes and other violence this spring in Afghanistan. Some 2,200 people, many of them insurgents, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an AP count based on numbers reported by the U.S., NATO, U.N. and Afghan officials.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Fisnik Abrashi in Kabul, and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

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