US-led coalition forces and Afghan police killed 20 suspected Taliban in the latest fighting to hit southern Afghanistan, as NATO today prepared to take command in the insurgency-wracked region.

AFGHAN president Hamid Karzai yesterday condemned the alleged desecration of the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters by US troops, but he said mistakes happen in war and Afghans shouldn’t let it mar their impression of the US.

The US military said today it found “repugnant” and would investigate a television report that claimed US soldiers in Afghanistan burned the bodies of two Taliban fighters and then used the action to taunt other Islamic militants.

Gun battles, mine blasts and US air strikes on the day of Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban election left 38 people dead today, including three police officers escorting freshly filled ballot boxes, Afghan officials said.