KABUL, July 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Twenty militants including five foreigners were killed as government troops encountered Taliban fighters in southeast Khost province in the past five days, Defense Ministry spokesman said Sunday.

    "Troops of Afghan National Army (ANA) backed by coalition forces have killed 20 militants including three Chechen and two Uzbek fighters Wednesday and Thursday respectively," Zahir Azimi told newsmen here.

    Defending his claim he added that documents found from the deadbodies indicated that three of them were from Chechen while two others were from Uzbekistan.

    Firefights and skirmishes between Taliban-led rebels and government troops have been on constant rise as over 400 including militants, Afghan and US troops as well as civilians had been killed since early this year. Enditem