Taleban death toll 'inaccurate'

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The Nato force in Afghanistan has said claims it killed up to 80 Taleban fighters in a battle earlier this month were inaccurate.

A statement released on Sunday said the true figure was seven or eight.

It is understood that figures for the total number of fighters and the number of casualties were confused, but the mistake was not immediately corrected.

The clash near Musa Qala in Helmand province involved Danish forces who were fighting alongside British troops.

Despite the battle, Nato's International Security Assistance Force claims a peace deal with local elders, which saw British troops pull out of Musa Qala, is still holding.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says this year has seen a huge upsurge in violence and there have been many claims of casualties by the Taleban and the international forces - but they have been almost impossible to verify.

Thousands of people are thought to have been killed by both sides, many of them civilians in suicide bombings, and others in air strikes and heavy fighting, our correspondent says.