Angry Afghans protest at Pakistan Embassy against border skirmishes

About 1,000 Afghans shouting "Death to Pakistan" demonstrated in front of Pakistan's embassy in Kabul Wednesday, blaming the neighboring country for some of the bloodiest border clashes in years.

Many of the demonstrators were from the eastern province of Paktia, where the fighting between Afghan and Pakistani troops killed at least 13 Afghan border guards and civilians so far this week.

The demonstrators carried banners and shouted "Death to the ISI! Death to Musharraf," a reference to Pakistan's intelligence agency and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Afghan police wearing riot gear guarded the embassy in downtown Kabul. There were no reports of violence.

"We've run out of patience with Pakistan," said Sultan Uddin, 50, from the Jaji district of Paktia. "We're requesting President (Hamid) Karzai to give us weapons and remove the border police. We know how to deal with Pakistan."

Tensions have been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan over controlling their 1,510-mile border, and stemming the flow of Taliban and al-Qaida militants who stage attacks inside Afghanistan.

Afghan officials said this week's border clashes began when Pakistani soldiers entered Afghan territory. Pakistan said Afghan soldiers started the clashes by firing on border posts.

On Monday, unidentified militants killed a U.S. soldier and a Pakistani soldier after a meeting in a Pakistani border region between officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the NATO peacekeeping force. The meeting was meant to cool tensions over the border fighting.

Elsewhere, militants attacked U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan border police in southern Afghanistan, killing one coalition soldier, officials said Wednesday. The soldier's nationality was not released.

The combined patrol was returning from providing medical assistance to more than 600 Afghans in Kandahar province when it was attacked Tuesday about 25 miles southwest of Qalat in Zabul province, a coalition statement said.

The death brings the number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 50, including at least 25 American soldiers.

An official with Afghanistan's intelligence service, meanwhile, said three other Taliban commanders were killed alongside the militants' top field commander, Mullah Dadullah, in an operation in Helmand province over the weekend. One of them was Dadullah's brother, identified as Mullah Shah Mansoor, the official said.

The three other commanders killed were among five Taliban released from Afghan prisons in March in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

NATO has said Dadullah was killed after he moved into Afghanistan from his "sanctuary" _ a reference to Pakistan.

In the southern city of Kandahar, health ministry director Qayum Pukhla said six civilians were wounded after soldiers from NATO's International Security Assistance Force fired on them while driving through the city in a convoy.

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid confirmed residents were wounded by troops but said he did not know how many.

NATO's ISAF said it was looking into the report and had no immediate comment.

In Helmand province, coalition and Afghan soldiers exchanged gunfire with suspected Taliban militants in the Kajaki district. An airstrike destroyed the militants' position, the coalition said. Two fighters were detained.

"A precision strike was conducted when it was obvious the militants were well-armed and had no intentions of surrendering," coalition spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher said.

Coalition and Afghan forces also detained what they called a suspected trainer of suicide bombers at a compound in Khost province late Tuesday.

In Helmand province, the Taliban attacked an Afghan army convoy in Sangin district Tuesday night, said Izatullah Khan, the district chief. Two soldiers were wounded, and three Taliban were killed in the ensuing battle.