Afghanistan ? Fierce fighting involving U.S. warplanes and Afghan troops in southern Afghanistan left at least 16 suspected Taliban rebels and three police dead, an official said Friday.

Amir Mohammed Akhund, deputy governor of southern Helmand province, said more than 250 Afghan police and army troops were hunting dozens of militants in Sangin district, and U.S. planes had bombed the area.

Afghan forces had recovered the bodies of 16 dead militants, including local Taliban commander Mullah Thorjan, he said.

Thirteen Afghan forces and four Taliban were wounded, he said.

The clashes in Helmand, a hotbed of the anti-government insurgency and the drug trade, underline the challenges that will face NATO peacekeepers from Britain set to deploy there later this year.