NATO-led peacekeeper killed in Afghan blast

KABUL, July 9 (Reuters) A roadside bomb hit a patrol of NATO-led peacekeepers in western Afghanistan, killing one and wounding four, the NATO force said.

The blast hit the patrol in Farah province yesterday, the force, known as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said in a statement seen today.

''Five ISAF troops were injured; one of the soldiers subsequently died,'' the force said. It did not give their nationality.

A US military contingent within the NATO force is in charge of security in the province.

Western Afghanistan is much more peaceful than the south and east but there has been violence in Farah this year, including bomb attacks on road-construction crews and an attempted suicide-bomb attack on a NATO base.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan this year to its most intense since US and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

Most of the violence has been in the south and east. The NATO force operates in the generally peaceful north, west and the capital, Kabul.

The NATO force is due to take over security duties in the south form a separate US-led force at the end of this month.

Sixty-four foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year in combat or accidents while on duty.

But of that total, only four have been from the NATO force. The rest were members of the US-led force that has been battling insurgents and hunting for their leaders in the country's south and east.

REUTERS SHB BD1028