KABUL, April 12 (RIA Novosti) - NATO aircraft killed over 20 members of the radical Taliban movement in the Zabul province in southern Afghanistan, local police said on Sunday.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and Afghan National Army were ambushed late on Saturday by Taliban militants in the Shinkay district, after which the military requested aviation support.

The air strike killed 22 militants, including four Pakistani nationals, with their bodies remaining on the battlefield, the police said.

Meanwhile, the ISAF command said that only four Taliban fighters had been killed on Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said the U.S. leadership plans to double the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from the current 36,000 to 60,000 in the next 18 months to fight Taliban militants.