Coalition forces kill more than 100 insurgents in Afghanistan

(CNN) -- Afghan and coalition forces have killed more than 100 insurgent fighters in an ongoing battle Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The fighting is in Kandahar province's northern Sha Wali Kot district.

Along with the insurgents, one Afghan service member was killed. Three coalition and three Afghan troops were wounded.

The incident started, the coalition said, when troops were attacked by "a large group of insurgents from reinforced fighting positions."

The insurgents were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms.

"Throughout the battle, insurgents continued to reinforce the area, engaging Islamic Republic of Afghanistan forces in an attempt to overrun their position."

The force, said to be led by the Afghan National Security Forces, "used small arms and crew-served weapons to repel the enemy attack while calling for close air support, which destroyed the enemy hilltop positions with bombing runs."

Insurgent positions and trucks were destroyed by coalition aircraft. There have been no civilians killed or wounded "as all targets were engaged in open and unpopulated areas," the coalition reported.

The fighting was continuing, the military said in the news release.

Earlier on Tuesday, in eastern Afghanistan, a suicide attacker in the Paktia province town of Gardez killed three and wounded six U.S. troops serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force. E-mail to a friend

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