Third day of Afghanistan clashes

Afghan forces say they are pushing the Taleban back

Afghan police and Taleban fighters have clashed outside the southern city of Kandahar in a battle that has now been going for three days, officials say.

It is the closest the Taleban have got to their former stronghold since late 2001, when their government fell to the international military operation.

Scores of local people have fled the area and taken refuge in Kandahar city.

The Taleban began their advance into Arghandab district after the death two weeks ago of a local leader.

He supported the Afghan government.

For the past three days, Afghan army and police, fighting alongside troops from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) force, have been pushing them back.

Fifty Taleban have been killed, according to Afghan police, and 40 injured, although those figures are impossible to confirm independently.

The police also said one Afghan soldier and three police officers were killed.

Dozens of people in Arghandab district have fled their homes since the fighting began, taking refuge some 12km (eight miles) away in Kandahar city.

"What's very telling is that the Afghan National Army (ANA) is showing a great deal of competence in military engagement," an Isaf spokesman said.

He praised what he said was the high level of co-operation between Isaf and Afghan forces.

Correspondents say that fighting in Afghanistan is the heaviest since the fall of the Taleban six years ago, and civilians are increasingly among the casualties.

On Monday Nato denied claims by an official in the province of Wardak that 13 Afghan civilians were killed in a Nato air strike near Kabul.

It said that a "thorough investigation" had been conducted into the allegations, which had concluded they were "completely without merit".