Heavy fighting in S Afghanistan

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There have been more military clashes in southern Afghanistan between Afghan and international security forces and Taleban insurgents.

It has been announced that a British soldier was killed in Helmand province on Monday.

The Afghan defence ministry says 14 Taleban were killed in two separate clashes elsewhere in the province.

Police also say that a Taleban leader who kidnapped 23 South Koreans in July has been killed in a US air strike.

There is no independent confirmation of the claim.

A British soldier serving with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) was killed after an explosion hit his army truck in the Gereshk district of Helmand province.

The Ministry of Defence in London says he was taking part in a routine logistics convoy.

Elsewhere in Helmand, Afghan officials say nine Taleban insurgents planning an ambush were killed in an American air strike, while five others died when they attacked Afghan and US-led forces.

The latest fighting comes as the United Nations in Afghanistan is mounting a big public campaign to promote International Peace Day later this week.

The head of the UN mission here has called for a complete cessation of violence on 21 September, while the World Health Organisation and the UN Children's Fund have appealed for three days of calm.

They want to vaccinate children across the south of the country against polio.

Posters promoting International Peace Day have appeared around the capital Kabul.

But military clashes have become routine here and several thousand people have been killed during the course of this year.