NATO air strike kills 13 Taliban in Afghanistan

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A NATO air strike has killed 13 Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Khost after the insurgents tried to attack a district government headquarters, provincial officials said on Saturday.

It was the second attack on a district headquarters in 24 hours by the Taliban, who are stepping up their insurgency against the Western-backed government and foreign troops supporting it.

The air strike was called in after the Taliban attacked government headquarters in Ali Sher district, near the border with Pakistan, late on Friday, said Khost Governor Arsala Jamal.

"The Taliban were killed in the bombing while retreating after the attack," he told reporters in Khost town.

Five Afghan police and security officials were wounded, a district official said.

Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001. Violence has been picking up in recent weeks after a traditional winter lull but a major Taliban offensive has yet to materialise.

In a separate incident, at least six Taliban and four policemen were killed in a clash in southern Uruzgan province late on Friday, the provincial police chief said.

On Thursday night, Taliban insurgents captured a government headquarters in Giru district, 170 km (100 miles) southwest of Kabul, killing the top administrator, the police chief and three policemen.

The Taliban later withdrew from the district in Ghazni province, an official said on Saturday.