US-led forces have killed 23 militants during weapons searches in southern Afghanistan while two Canadian coalition soldiers and their interpreter died in a bomb blast, the foreign forces said yesterday.

As rebel casualties mount, there are scant signs their insurgency to topple the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign forces is weakening, but instead there have been more clashes this year compared to 2006 and spread over a wider area.

Coalition forces searched compounds in the Garmser district of Helmand province looking for weapons.

"Several armed militants threatening coalition forces were engaged and killed during the course of this operation," a US military statement said.

Another 11 suspects were detained, it said.

Afghan troops killed more than 10 Taliban fighters in the Zherai district of the southern province of Kandahar yesterday, the provincial police chief said.

Two Canadian soldiers with the international force and their interpreter were killed in the south when their armoured vehicle hit a homemade bomb yesterday, the Canadian army said. Three Canadians were wounded.

In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeting US forces killed one civilian, the international force said. The Taliban have killed more than 200 people in over 130 suicide attacks this year.

While the number of attacks and casualty figures are up from last year, the proportion of foreign troops and civilians killed in suicide bombings is down, security analysts say.