LONDON - A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has been stabbed to death in Hackney in east London, the 25th teenager to die in a knife or gun attack in the capital this year, British police said on Sunday.

The boy was stabbed late on Saturday night after becoming involved in a fight with a group of youths and died on Sunday morning in an east London hospital.

A 16-year-old girl who was also involved in the fight suffered slash wounds, but is in a stable condition in hospital.

There will be a post mortem on Monday at the Royal London Hospital and police have appealed for witnesses.

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Liverpool on Saturday.

A wave of shootings and stabbings in London in recent months has prompted a police crackdown on young people carrying weapons. Metropolitan Police chief Ian Blair said last month that the violence was 'unacceptable'.

Official figures released in July showed there were more than 22,000 serious offences involving knives in England and Wales in the year to end-March 2008, though crime fell significantly overall. -- REUTERS