Rebels killed in Afghanistan

Dozens of insurgents were killed after more than 100 attacked a government center Sunday near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, provincial Gov. Arsallah Jamal said.

American troops and aircraft assisted Afghan forces during the battle in the Spera district of Khowst province, he said.

More than 50 militants died, while the rest fled into Pakistan, he said. Two policemen died and four were wounded.

On Saturday, several militants were killed and four were detained after they fired on troops conducting searches in neighboring Paktia province, the U.S.-led coalition said.

Afghanistan faces intensifying militancy nearly seven years after a U.S.-led invasion ousted the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement from power.

The number of militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan has increased significantly over the same period last year.

Afghan and Western officials say Pakistan has not done enough to crack down on militants on its side of the border, a charge Pakistan denies.

More than 2,700 people, most of them militants, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally.