Kabul - Afghan forces backed by international troops killed 10 militants in the restive south of Afghanistan, while another militant was killed by his own bomb, officials said Saturday.

Two were insurgent commanders targetted during an operation in the Seyori district of southern Zabul province on Friday night, according to Yaqoub Zabuli, the provincial police chief.

"Mullah Hekmatullah and Mullah Abdul Rahman, two local Taliban commanders, were killed," Zabuli said, adding that the joint Afghan and NATO-led forces suffered no casualties.

In another incident, Afghan forces backed by coalition troops killed eight militants and wounded five on Friday in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province, the Interior Ministry said.

Another militant died when a bomb he tried to plant on a road in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, went off prematurely, the ministry said in a statement.

The southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan have borne the brunt of Taliban-led insurgency since the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist regime late 2001.

Helmand, which is also Afghanistan's largest opium-producing province, saw three Danes and a Dutchman serving with NATO-led forces killed in roadside attacks on Friday.

Wary of the growing influence of Taliban militants, the US recently announced it was boosting its 32,000-strong military force in Afghanistan by another 20,000. (dpa)