US-led forces and their Afghan allies have killed at least 20 members of the al-Qaeda network and remnants of the Taliban regime in a clash in southeastern Afghanistan.
At least three Afghan government soldiers were also killed in the fighting in Gomal district, Paktika province, which took place on Friday.
There were Arab, Chechen and Taliban fighters among the 20 dead.
There were no reports of casualties among US-led forces.
More than 350 people, including civilians, government soldiers, aid workers, US soldiers and many Taliban fighters, have been killed since August in various parts of Afghanistan.
The violence is the worst since US-led forces overthrew the radical Islamic Taliban militia from power in 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
The US military in Afghanistan leads a force of some 11,500 troops in the hunt for remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.