A fierce battle between US-backed Afghan forces and Taliban militants in a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan left nearly 20 people dead, including 11 Afghan children killed in an airstrike and an American civilian adviser.

A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near the gate of a US-Afghan combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan this morning, wounding 10 Afghan soldiers, officials said.

Three Nato service members and their translator have been killed in a bombing in eastern Afghanistan, officials said today.