Kabul- A coalition soldier and two Afghan nationals were killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, while 25 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate clashes with Afghan and foreign forces elsewhere in the country, officials said on Saturday.

The coalition soldier and two local nationals were killed on Saturday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, US military said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the nationality of the dead soldier. Most of the soldiers serving under command of the coalition are from the Untied States.

Kabul- NATO-led forces "reluctantly" shot dead an Afghan civilian in southern Afghanistan after the man approached an alliance foot patrol on Saturday, the military said.

The incident began when a civilian approached a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol in Sangin district of southern Helmand province and failed to stop despite verbal warnings by the forces, ISAF said in a statement.

Kabul- Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on Afghan and international forces and Taliban militants to halt clashes over the weekend to respect the United Nations-backed Peace Day.

Karzai's order was aired by Afghan TVs and radio in which he asked Afghan forces to avoid using weapons unless attacked by the Taliban militants, who have waged a bloody insurgency in the country since their ouster in late 2001.

Lahore, Sep 20 : American drones are continuing their flights over various areas of North and South Waziristan, spreading panic and fear among locals despite a warning from Pakistan not to do so.

According to Express News, the spy planes were seen flying over Ghulam Khan, Hamzoni, Ditta Khel and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan and Angoor Adda and Mateen areas of South Waziristan.

According to the channel, the continued drone flights have increased fears among locals, already worried about the security situation in their areas.

Earlier, Pakistani security forces along with tribesmen repulsed a ground attack by US-led troops in South Waziristan.

Washington, Sep 20 : A resurgent Taliban “has turned much of Afghanistan into ‘No Go’ zones for aid workers and civilians”, according to a new report.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report says that the security situation in Afghanistan is assessed by most analysts as having deteriorated at a constant rate through 2007.

Statistics show that although the numbers of incidents are higher than comparable periods in 2006, they show the same seasonal pattern.

The nature of the incidents has, however, changed considerably since last year, with high numbers of armed clashes in the field giving way to a combination of armed clashes and asymmetric attacks countrywide.

Peshawar, Sep 20 : Increasing home-grown militancy, mounting American frustration at the continued Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and militant ‘safe havens’ in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas will dominate President Asif Ali Zardari’s maiden address to the joint session of parliament in Islamabad today.