Spanish troops hit by Afghan blast, one dead

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

Sixty-four foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year, in combat or accidents while on duty, as Taliban violence has intensified to its most severe since the hardline Islamists were ousted in 2001.

The blast hit the Spanish 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 identify the soldier killed but Spain's Defence Ministry said he was a Peruvian serving with the Spanish military.

The police chief of Farah province, Sayed Agha Saquib, said he thought the blast had been caused by an old mine left over from decades of conflict.

''It was an old mine, not a Taliban attack,'' he told Reuters.

But a Taliban commander, Mullah Hayat Khan, said his men were responsible for the blast. Taliban spokesmen have in the past claimed responsibility for incidents that foreign forces said were accidents.

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.

Of the 64 foreign troops killed this year, 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 RN1118