KABUL, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen Taliban insurgents and one policeman were killed during a conflict in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, a local official said Wednesday.

    The conflict, which lasted two hours, broke out in Garmsir district at 3:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, killing 18 rebels and one policeman, provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhil told Xinhua.

    Helmand, famous for gigantic opium product, has also been a hotbed of Taliban insurgence.

    On Tuesday, three NATO-led British troops were killed and another seriously injured when their patrol vehicle was ambushed by Taliban militants in northern Helmand.

    About 3,300 British soldiers have been deployed in the province to wipe out the Taliban and secure peaceful reconstruction there.

    More than 700 Taliban fighters have been killed in southern Afghanistan, the extremist group's stronghold, in the past two months, official figures said.

    Afghanistan has suffered from rising Taliban-linked violence this year, during which over 1,700 people, mostly Taliban militants, have lost their lives. Enditem