KABUL, Oct 30: Nato troops fought a six-hour battle with insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Monday in a firefight that left 55 militants and one Nato soldier dead, the Western alliance said.

The fight in the Daychopan district of Zabul province also left 20 militants wounded, Nato said. The nationality of the dead Nato soldier was not released, though many of the Western troops in Zabul are American.

The battle comes on the heels of another major fight in neighboring Uruzgan province that left 70 insurgents dead on Saturday.

Maj Luke Knittig, a spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force, said troops in southern Afghanistan are moving into areas where insurgents are active in order to set security conditions to allow reconstruction and development.

“We’re not going to get fixated on a scoreboard tally of insurgents killed,” he said. “What’s more important is getting an accountable government in place.”

Nato and Afghan troops on Saturday killed 70 suspected militants who attacked a military base north of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan. The alliance and Afghan troops fought back with small arms fire, attack helicopters and airstrikes.

Nato and Afghan troops are pressing ahead with a new joint offensive called Operation Eagle, aimed at keeping pressure on the Taliban through the fall and winter and to pave the way for long-promised development after the harshest fighting in five years.

In eastern Afghanistan, a clash between insurgents and Nato-led troops in Kunar province on Sunday left three soldiers wounded, Knittig said. He did not disclose their nationalities, but most troops in the area are American.

Violence is still flaring in Panjwayi. Last week, fighting between Nato troops and Taliban fighters left dozens dead, including between 30 and 80 civilians, according to Afghan officials. Nato has said its initial reports found that 12 civilians and between 50 and 70 militant fighters were killed.—AP