"There were two separate air strikes in Kunar (province) yesterday. A total of 12 insurgents were killed, six in each air strike," a NATO spokesman told AFP.

The police chief of Kunar's Shigal district, where the attacks took place, said most of the militants were from neighbouring Pakistan and included a Taliban leader.

"Commander Dadullah, the top Taliban commander in Bajaur agency of Pakistan, is also among the dead," Sayed Rahman said.

Last week, around two dozen militants were killed in NATO air strikes in Chapa Dara district of Kunar as they gathered for a public execution.

NATO has some 130,000 troops in Afghanistan helping the government of President Hamid Karzai fight the Taliban insurgency.