Afghan national security forces and NATO aviation have killed 26 Taliban militants in a combat operation in the Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan, the regional authorities said on Sunday.

The operation against the radical Islamic group Taliban in the Barg-i-Matal district on the border with Pakistan was started on Saturday after the militants launched an attack on the area.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Taliban group said that eight Afghan policemen had been killed and another 15 captured during the fight.

Barg-i-Matal district in mountainous Nuristan province, a remote area bordering Pakistan, has been the scene of fierce fighting between militants and NATO-led forces in the past two months.

The Nuristan governor on Saturday appealed to the Afghan government through local television to send reinforcements into the province.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months, with the Taliban group, which was toppled in a 2001 U.S.-led campaign, staging regular attacks on provincial government officials, police and civilians and planting roadside bombs to target Afghan, U.S. and NATO troops.

KABUL, July 25 (RIA Novosti)