Four Afghan soldiers and 20 Taliban were killed in three separate attacks in insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan, military officials said on Tuesday.
In one attack, Taliban rebels attacked an Afghan army convoy in Zabul province late on Monday killing two soldiers, General Rahmatullah Raufi, the military commander for the south, said.
In the army operation that followed near the provincial capital of Qalat, 11 Taliban were killed, he said.
"The rest of them escaped," Raufi said.
In a separate incident on Monday, insurgents attacked the Afghan army in Musa Qala district of Helmand province and killed two soldiers, a spokesman for the US-led coalition said.
Coalition troops deployed to assist the army and killed eight insurgents, spokesman Major Quentin Innes said.
The third operation was in Ghazni province when Taliban attacked an army vehicle on Monday, sparking an exchange of fire that left one Taliban dead, provincial governor Shir Alam said.