US-led coalition soldier killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, July 19 (Reuters) A solider from a US-led force has been killed during a combat operation in Afghanistan, the coalition today said amid a spate of growing violence in the south of the country.

Two other coalition soldiers were wounded in the fighting yesterday in the southern province of Uruzgan, it said in a statement, adding both were in stable condition.

The statement did not identify the victims.

The death of the soldier brings the number of foreign troops killed during combat to 65 this year in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since coalition forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

Coalition troops have been conducting daily offensives as part of an operation launched six weeks ago in the face of a growing insurgency in the south.

The offensive coincides with the expansion of NATO-led peacekeepers in the south to allow the US army cut down the size of its troops in Afghanistan.

REUTERS SY PM1754