NATO on Thursday said as many as 150 insurgents were killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported. The fighters were hit by ground fire and air strikes, NATO said. Gen. Murad Ali, the Afghan army regional deputy corps commander said the insurgents had come with several trucks of ammunition. A NATO statement said that «initial battle damage estimates» indicated that as many as 150 fighters were killed. Ali said more than 50 fighters were killed. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, estimated the toll at 80.