U.S. aircraft carried out two attacks in the district of Sangin in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, overrun by Taliban militants earlier this week, officials say.
Fighting is reported to be continuing between Afghan forces and Taliban militants for the strategically important district.
The Taliban says its forces now control almost all of Sangin district and that they have captured police and administrative buildings in the center.
However, Afghan officials deny the claims and say that they have pushed back the militants and regained control over the district.
A U.S. spokesman for the NATO mission in Afghanistan said that the U.S. military conducted two air strikes near Sangin before midnight.
Sangin is an important poppy-growing district in Helmand, which borders Pakistan and sits on transport routes for drugs, arms, and other lucrative contraband.