led and NATO troops are in Afghanistan to protect the elections, the last phase of a plan for political development agreed by Afghan factions and the international community after the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. About 1,000 people, most of them Taliban guerrillas, have been killed in clashes, ambushes and blasts this year, most of them militants. The U.S. military said this week it had killed 105 militants in a series of clashes over recent weeks in Zabul and the eastern province of Kunar. U.S. forces have suffered 47 deaths in combat in Afghanistan this year, their worst casualty rate in the country since arriving in late 2001 to force the Taliban from power. Despite the violence, Afghan government and U.S. officials say the vote will not be disrupted, Reuters said. --SP 1108 Local Time 0808 GMT
