KABUL: An Afghan army officer says that six soldiers have been killed in the north-western province of Badghis after insurgents launched several attacks on guard posts.

Gen. Douod Shah Wafa, the commander of the Afghan National Army in the province, says Taliban gunmen used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to attack the posts in Bala Murghab district early on Tuesday morning.

In eastern Afghanistan, an official says an American drone killed five insurgents in Shirzad district in Nangahar province.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai , the provincial governor's spokesman, says the drone strike on Monday killed three Taliban group commanders and two fighters.

Badghis and Nangahar are among Afghanistan's most violent provinces and have seen an escalation in Taliban attacks as the insurgent war has intensified in recent months.