LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters):

Key allies in the war against Afghanistan's Taliban militants pledged to stay the course yesterday as a suicide bomber killed 18 in the south and a blast slew an Italian NATO soldier.

The Taliban's intensified campaign against the government and foreign troops supporting it this year has spawned the worst violence since the hard-line Islamists were ousted after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Yesterday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide blast outside the governor's office in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province. NATO troops were in the area at the time, but none was hurt, an official said.