Four American and 10 Afghan soldiers were killed Tuesday in a clash in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, local authorities and the US military said.

Four American and 10 Afghan soldiers were killed Tuesday in a clash in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, local authorities and the US military said.

'Fighting is continuing' in the district of Sirkanay, the head district official, Hamisha Gulab Shinwari, told AFP.

'The Afghan and international forces confronted the Taliban.... In the clash, 10 Afghan soldiers and four American soldiers were killed and 10 other soldiers were injured,' he said.

'The frontier police, who took part in the fighting, lost one man and five police were injured,' he added.

The loss of the four American soldiers was confirmed by a US army spokesman in Kunar, but he declined to confirm the number of Afghan soldiers killed.

Located on the border with Pakistan's tribal areas, the mountainous province of Kunar has been the most prone to insurgent attacks among Afghanistan's eastern provinces.

The death of the four Americans brings to 329 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year. Of that number, 190 were American.