'Twenty' Taleban killed in clash

Helmand is among the most violent provinces in Afghanistan

Twenty suspected Taleban militants have been killed in a clash with US-led coalition and Afghan forces in the south, an Afghan general says.

One Afghan soldier was wounded in the clash in the restive Helmand province, General Rahamatullah Raufi says.

He said the forces attacked a Taleban meeting in the Musa Qala district, triggering off a three hour fighting.

Fighting has intensified in Afghanistan in recent months. Hundreds of suspected Taleban militants have been killed.

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"Twenty Taliban were killed in the operation. Their bodies with their weapons were left at the site," Gen Raufi, who commands Afghan forces in the south, told the AFP news agency.

Last week, US-led coalition forces said they had killed about 40 Taleban fighters in an attack on a compound in southern Uruzgan province.

Attacks by suspected Taleban militants have made Helmand among the most violent provinces in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, at least 30 people were killed in a suspected Taleban attack in Helmand.

Most of those who died were relatives of a local parliamentarian.

More than 10,000 troops from the US, Canada, Britain and Afghanistan have been deployed in four restive provinces, Helmand, Uruzgan, Kandahar and Zabul, to hunt down Taleban fighters and militants.

The operation is described as one of the biggest coalition counter-insurgency drives since the Taleban were ousted in 2001.

The insurgency in the area has strengthened after the fall of the Taleban in late 2001 following the US-led invasion.