KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Eighteen Taliban militants and one policeman were killed as Afghan forces and coalition aircraft raided an insurgent hide-out in the country's south, police said Wednesday.

The fighting late Tuesday occurred near Garmser, a town in Helmand province that Taliban forces briefly took over last month.

The violence occurred on the same day a Taliban ambush killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded a fourth in the north of the vast province. The deaths were the first for NATO since the alliance assumed military control of southern Afghanistan on Monday from U.S.-led troops.

NATO said insurgents attacked one of its positions in Helmand on Wednesday with light weapons, wounding one of its soldiers. No further details were provided.

Meanwhile, Col. Tom Collins, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said pamphlets from Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been distributed recently in Afghanistan.

The pamphlets urged people to rise up against the U.S. and its allies, claiming they were "out to destroy Muslims," Collins said. The pamphlets also expressed pride in suicide bombers, even if they kill innocent civilians, he said.

"We have intelligence reports ... there's no doubt it's from Omar," he told The Associated Press. He wouldn't elaborate on whether the intelligence indicated that the fugitive militia leader was inside Afghanistan. Afghan officials have claimed Omar is hiding in Pakistan, which the government there denies.

Afghanistan is wracked by its deadliest spate of violence since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting Osama bin Laden. More than 900 people -- mainly militants -- have been killed since May.

Local police chief Ghulam Rasool said Afghan forces backed by coalition aircraft attacked a Taliban position in the village of Habibullah, near Garmser. Police found the bodies of 18 insurgents, believed to have been killed in coalition airstrikes, and four wounded Taliban.

An Afghan policeman was also killed during the battle, Rasool said.

Police also confiscated eight AK47s, four rocket-propelled grenades and four motorcycles, he said. In a similar raid Sunday, Afghan forces killed 23 insurgents in attacks on two Taliban hideous near Garmser.

Afghan authorities increased the number of security forces in Garmser after Taliban militants chased a small police contingent out of town and held the city for several days before U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces wrested it back.

In other bloodshed, an explosion destroyed a car belonging to the Afghan Finance Ministry in Kabul, killing the driver and wounding a passenger and a bystander, officials said.

Initial police reports indicated the blast was caused by a suicide car bomber, though Finance Ministry spokesman Aziz Shams rejected that, saying the vehicle was driven by a "trusted" employee.

A police patrol on the lookout for a "suspicious" vehicle spotted and pursued the car shortly before it exploded, Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai said. The explosion left a small crater in the road and shattered the windows of nearby houses.

"A man ran from the car covered in flames screaming 'help me, help me' and three police cars were at the scene almost immediately," said eyewitness Mohammed Amin, 43.

NATO spokesman Maj. Luke Knittig said initial police reports indicated a suicide attacker had detonated his bomb-rigged car prematurely after police tried to stop it.