Kabul, August 27 (RHC)-- A U.S. drone attack has killed 22 Afghan soldiers held by Taliban militants in the southern province of Helmand, while Taliban have overrun a strategic district elsewhere. 

Provincial officials announced the fatalities on Saturday. Taliban forces also confirmed the death toll, saying the airstrike had killed three of the group's members in the Nad-e-Ali district on Thursday.

Helmand is a strategically important province for both the Afghan government and Taliban militants, who control or contest 10 of the 14 districts in the opium-rich province. On Saturday, Taliban militants seized a strategic district in the eastern province of Paktia.

Officials said dozens of police and soldiers were killed as the militants captured the Jani Khel district after five days of siege. Local authorities said hundreds of militants attacked police check posts overnight, prompting security forces to flee the district.