Kabul, Afghanistan ? As many as 150 insurgents were killed Wednesday night in fighting in southeastern Afghanistan, shortly after two large groups of militants crossed into the country from Pakistan, NATO officials said Thursday.

The fighting, unusual for winter in Afghanistan, marked the largest battle in four months between Taliban-led insurgents and government and international forces. It underscored the current border dispute between the neighboring countries and showed the insurgency still is able to recruit fighters, despite NATO and U.S. assertions that the Taliban has been weakened.

“Day and night we’re employing every available means to search for, identify and destroy the enemies of Afghanistan,” Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, the senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in a news release.

Gen. Zaher Azimi, the Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said the insurgent death toll was lower, at 80. He said 11 bodies had been left behind and bloody trails could be seen in the snow, showing that insurgents had dragged some bodies back over the border.