500 die in three weeks of violence in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – The worst three weeks of violence since the fall of the Taliban have left more than 500 people dead, the U.S.-led coalition said Saturday.

Fighting on Saturday killed six insurgents and three police, officials said. Late Friday, a top Afghan intelligence agent narrowly survived a bomb attack on his convoy that killed three other people near the capital, Kabul.

Much of the recent Taliban fighting is believed funded by the country’s $2.8 billion trade in opium and heroin – about 90 percent of the world’s supply.

The daily violence has raised fears of a Taliban resurgence almost five years after the Islamic extremists were driven out by a U.S.-led invasion for harboring al-Qaida.

More than 44 militants were among those killed in the last week. More than 30 of them died in a battle with Canadian and Afghan troops in Zabul province on Monday, a coalition statement said.