Afghan army and US-led forces killed 20 Taliban and Islamist fighters in the southeast of the country in the latest wave of violence ahead of parliamentary polls in September, an Afghan defence spokesman said yesterday.

Dozens have been killed in the past weeks as Taliban insurgents and their Islamist allies have stepped up attacks to disrupt the September 18 vote. The election is seen as the next big step in the country?s path to stability and the Afghan government and US-led forces have vowed to ensure a free and fair poll.

The latest fighting erupted late on Thursday in Khost province after militants attacked an Afghan National Army base in Espera district, General Zahir Azimi said. ?We responded with an operation and coalition forces were helping us both on ground and from the air,? Azimi said.

?After identifying the area, we attacked them. The fighting lasted three hours and we found 20 bodies later,? Azimi said, adding: ?Five of the militants were foreigners, two Uzbeks and three Chechens.?

In the central province of Uruzgan, Afghan forces on Friday arrested a regional Taliban commander and recovered weapons he was carrying, the spokesman said.

Thursday?s fighting in Khost coincided with another clash in which 24 suspected Islamist militants were killed further to the south, just across the border with Pakistan. The militants were hit by US artillery and aircraft after they had earlier fired on an Afghan army post killing one soldier.

There was more violence across the border from Khost in the Pakistan tribal area of North Waziristan yesterday when 17 suspected foreign militants and a Pakistani soldier were killed.

The US military said four US soldiers were wounded in Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit by a blast on Saturday. A home-made bomb exploded as the military convoy passed in the southeastern Paktika province, a US statement said. The soldiers suffered minor wounds.

Paktika is one of several Afghan provinces that border Pakistan where the insurgency is raging. US forces in Afghanistan have had their bloodiest year since they helped overthrow the Taliban in 2001, losing 35 personnel in combat and more in non-combat incidents.

Y. P. RAJESH