KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 20 -- Taliban fighters ambushed an Afghan army convoy Saturday, setting off a gun battle that resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and 15 insurgents. Clashes elsewhere killed 15 others, including two French soldiers and a U.S. soldier.
Six American soldiers were wounded just days after a 24-hour surge of violence across Afghanistan killed about 120 people. The fighting was some of the heaviest since the ouster of the Taliban by U.S.-led forces in late 2001.
The fiercest clashes erupted late Friday in Helmand province, the country's main opium-producing region. Six insurgents, an Afghan soldier and one civilian were killed, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, head of the Afghan military's southern region.
After the convoy attack Saturday, hundreds of reinforcements were deployed to the area and the rebels fled on motorbikes and foot, an Afghan military official said on condition of anonymity. Gen. Zahir Azimi, a Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed that four Afghan soldiers had been killed.
Rebels ambushed another army convoy in Zabol province Saturday, and four fighters were killed as the troops returned fire, Raufi said.
In the western city of Herat, meanwhile, an explosion ripped through a vehicle and wounded Amanullah Khan, a former warlord, said Gulam Sarwar Haydari, the city's deputy police chief. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast.
An American soldier was killed in southern Uruzgan province Friday morning when U.S. forces encountered enemy fighters during a patrol. The six wounded soldiers were in stable condition, said Lt. Tamara Lawrence, a U.S. military spokeswoman.
In the past year Uruzgan has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan.
Two French troops were killed Saturday while fighting Taliban rebels in the Kandahar region, the French Defense Ministry said. France has had 200 special forces personnel in southeast Afghanistan since 2003, as part of a U.S. command fighting the Taliban.
At least 235 U.S. military personnel have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Pentagon.
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Two French special forces troops and a US soldier were among 34 killed in Afghanistan in a violent upsurge in recent days. General Rahmatullah Raufi, military commander for the southern provinces, said the clash erupted when militants ambushed a military convoy.

Fears of a resurgence of the Taliban have been boosted by a sharp rise in violence in the past few weeks, much of it in Helmand province. Around 120 people died in 24 hours last week. Attacks on Friday have claimed another 34 lives. Officials say the fighting was some of the heaviest since the  Taliban were ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001.

The French Defence Ministry said two French soldiers were killed on Saturday in a battle with Taliban forces in . France has had 200 special forces officers in south-eastern Afghanistan since 2003. A US soldier was killed and six others wounded after a bloody clash on Friday in , when a joint patrol encountered Taliban fighters.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks on foreign and government forces recently as NATO  increases its peacekeeping force from 9,000 to 16,000 - as they prepare to take over from US forces in the South.

Helmand, the main  poppy-growing region, has become a major focus of violence. Over the past week there has also been attacks in  and the western city of . Scattered clashes in the southern provinces in the past four days have killed around 150 people, including Taliban, Afghan police and military personnel and civilians.