Maymana (Afghanistan), March 2 (IANS) As many as 15 militants and six security personnel were killed on Saturday when the Afghan forces repelled a Taliban attack to capture a district in the country's Faryab province, officials said.

A group of Taliban fighters "launched a well-coordinated offensive on security check-points to overrun Qaisar district in the morning but faced resistance", Army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezai was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The militants retreated after losing 15 fighters on the spot. Six security personnel were also killed in the firefight, which lasted three hours, the spokesman added. Over a dozen militants sustained injuries.

The Taliban have not commented on the clashes.

--IANS soni/pcj