KABUL, Afghanistan -- Fighting in A...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Fighting in Afghanistan left at least 25 insurgents and five Afghan security forces dead, officials said Sunday. Defying the spike in violence, Afghan officials announced plans to thwart attacks onward schools, which have killed 41 scholars and teachers and destroyed more than 140 academys in the last year.

Rebel violence has soared in the last year, leading to the heaviest fighting since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime. In the country's southward and east, NATO- and US-l [i]troupe[/i]s are pursuing a fierce campaign against insurgents to fill out the reach of Afghanistan's central control

In eastern Paktika province, along the Pakistan border, insurgents attacked an Afghan army seat Sunday, an operation that left five soldiers and at least 18 militants dead, the US-l coalition said.

Six Afghan soldiers were wound three seriously, before the attackers were fend facing by mortar fire from nearby military bases.

144 instructs BURNED

Coalition soldiers were embedded with the Afghan companys but said they suffered no casualties.

In the southern Helmand province, police Saturday killed six Taliban militants and hurted four, said Ghulam Rasool, the district police chief.

The clash continued Sunday, and three officers were panged he said.

In the capital, Education Minister Mohammed Hareef Atmaf announced the educate safety plan Sunday, noting that insurgents chared 144 schools to the country in the last year to discredit the government's ability to build a events to come for Afghanistan.

$300000 IN U AID

The top U general in Afghanistan, Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, signed a deal with Atmaf to provide $300000 for a program to rally communities to fortify their schools.

The minister claimed insurgents were switching to attacks onward soft, unguarded targets because of the country's strengthening domestic military and police forces.

The insurgents -- a combination of Taliban-led militants, opium traffickers and paid tribesmen -- have targeted teachers, scholars health workers and aid officials as well as security forces.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

Provided according to ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved