The U.S. military says U.S. troops have killed at least four al-Qaida fighters in two separate battles in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. 

U.S. military spokesman Major Bryan Hilferty told reporters at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, the clashes occurred Monday and early Tuesday near the Afghan city of Khost. 

The spokesman said U.S.-led special forces also made major weapons discoveries in caves and bunkers along the Pakistani border. 

A number of al-Qaida and Taleban fighters are believed to have fled into Pakistan during a U.S. led assault earlier this year on the Afghan border region in Tora Bora mountains. 

On Monday, the U.S. Defense Department confirmed that a small number of U.S. military personnel have been operating within Pakistan to search out remaining al-Qaida and Taleban fighters. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency says more than 400,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from camps in Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan since March. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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