KANDAHAR • Afghan police and US-led coalition forces killed more than 50 Taleban militants in fighting in southern Afghanistan, the government said yesterday.

The Islamist "terrorists" were killed in clashes in the volatile Charchino district of Uruzgan province over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

There were no casualties to Afghan and US forces, the government said.

The operation involved ground and air attacks, Uruzgan police chief Juma Gul Himat said.

Separately a Taleban commander and four of his guards were killed in a police operation in Deh Rawood district of the same province on Tuesday, said the statement.

The Taleban, whose regime was toppled in 2001 by a US-led offensive, have stepped up their attacks in recent years.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's finance minister yesterday urged Japan to resume a naval mission backing the US-led "war on terror," even if it limits operations to assuage domestic criticism.

Japan this month suspended the mission, which provided fuel and other support on the Indian Ocean to forces operating in Afghanistan, due to a legislative deadlock.

"Japan, in its own capacity, is providing the maritime interdiction operations to help the war on terror," Finance Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady told a news conference on a visit to Tokyo.

"We hope that that will continue although I've realised that there is a bitter debate," Ahady said, referring to the opposition camp's strong objections to a bill to restart the mission.

"We would like Japan to remain an ally ... in the war on terror in Afghanistan with whatever methods or whatever model Japanese people can agree on. That will be fine with us," he said.