KABUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - NATO troops killed 70-80 Taliban in a fierce battle in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Monday. A reconnaissance patrol hunting Taliban engaged a large group of fighters on Sunday about 15 km (9 miles) from the village of Musa Qala in Helmand, a stronghold of the Islamist guerrillas and the main opium-growing province in the world's major supplier. In a four-hour battle backed by attack helicopters and close air support, the ground commander estimated 70-80 guerrillas were killed, a NATO spokesman said. There were no NATO casualties, but three soldiers from NATO's International Security Assistance Force were wounded during another clash earlier in the day. Fighting in Afghanistan this year is the worst since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban's strict government in 2001. About 4,000 people have been killed, a quarter of them civilians. The worst fighting is in the south and east, bordering Pakistan, the epicenter of the Taliban insurgency. The area is also the centre of illegal opium poppy growing in the country that accounts for 90 percent of world output. NATO confirmed on Sunday that a civilian MI-21 helicopter, with a crew of eight, chartered to ferry supplies had crashed in Kandahar province. The Interior Ministry said at least some of those on board had died, but NATO said its ground forces had not reached the wreckage and it did not know the fate of the crew. The helicopter was owned by U.S. security and logistics firm DynCorp International.
