US-led coalition forces have killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan.

The coalition said in a statement on Sunday that the latest fight began on Saturday when Taliban fighters attacked a combined US coalition and Afghan patrol with rockets and gunfire.

The Taliban attack prompted the combined forces to call in attack aircraft, which resulted in "almost seven dozen Taliban fighters killed".

The coalition said that four bombs were dropped on a trench line filled with Taliban fighters, resulting in most of the deaths.

The battle near Musa Qala in Helmand province, the world's largest poppy growing region, is at least the fifth major fight in the area since September 1.

Taliban stronghold

The Taliban overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town following a contentious peace agreement that handed over security responsibilities to Afghan elders. Musa Qala has been in control of Taliban fighters ever since.

Situated in the north of Helmand, Musa Qala and the region around it have been the front line of the bloodiest fighting this year. It is also the heartland of Afghanistan's illicit poppy farms.

Violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion.

More than 5,200 people have died this year due to the violence, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.

PHOTO CAPTION

The map of Afghanistan [BBC]

 Al-Jazeera