At least 18 suspected insurgents died Saturday in a NATO airstrike in the southwestern Afghan province of Paktika, an Afghan police official told Efe.

The airstrike was carried out by helicopters in the early hours Saturday in the strife-torn district of Yahya Khel near the Pakistani border, the chief of provincial police, Nabi Jan Malakhel, said.

"The bombing took the lives of 18 Taliban, including several foreigners," Malakhel said.

The NATO attack came three days after the international force officially ended its combat mission and began the advisory operation dubbed Resolute Support, with the presence of 10,800 U.S. soldiers and between 3,000 and 4,000 NATO troops from other member countries.

However, NATO has said that the international force will continue offering air support for Afghan forces on the ground.

Afghanistan is going through one of its most difficult moments since the U.S. invasion and the end of the Taliban regime 13 years ago, with an increase of insurgent attacks and civilian victims over the past few months.

The number of civilian victims in the Afghan conflict in 2014 amounted to a 19-percent increase over 2013, with 3,199 deaths and 6,429 wounded, according to figures provided by the United Nations. EFE