More than 100 people have been killed in violence across Afghanistan in some of the deadliest fighting there since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001.
The dead included Taleban militants, a Canadian soldier and a U.S. civilian contractor training Afghan police.
Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces battled insurgents in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand. A coalition spokesman told VOA 26 militants were captured. At least 13 Afghan policemen were killed in the violence.
Taleban supporters have intensified attacks against the Afghan government and foreigners in recent months, particularly in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Pakistan is training militants and sending them into Afghanistan. He also accused Islamic schools in Pakistan called madrassas of urging students to go to Afghanistan to burn schools and clinics.
A Pakistani government spokeswoman rejected Mr. Karzai's remarks as "false and baseless" and said Pakistan wants to see a stable Afghanistan.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.