The battles in Helmand province on Wednesday involved both foreign troops and Afghan forces. A fight in Garmsir district killed 13 suspected militants, including the seven foreigners, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry didn't give their nationalities. However, Pakistanis fighting with the Taliban as well as Chechens and Arabs associated with al-Qaeda periodically crop up among casualties in Afghanistan.

Another five militants died in a joint operation in Helmand's Sangin district, the ministry said.

In the eastern province of Paktika, a local government leader, four policemen and a driver were killed when ammunition they were going to confiscate exploded, said provincial spokesman Ghamia Khan.

It wasn't immediately clear if the explosion was an accident or if the cache had been rigged, Khan said. An investigation was under way.

Violence in Afghanistan has spiked in recent weeks. More than 1,800 people have died this year in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press count based on US, Nato and Afghan officials.

Meanwhile, 200 people demonstrated in the province of Farah in support of an outspoken female lawmaker suspended by parliament this week over comments she made comparing parliamentarians to animals.

Malalai Joya, 29, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she has been suspended until the end of parliament's session in 2010, but that she was waiting for Afghanistan's Supreme Court to make a final decision as to whether her ouster is valid.