NATO soldier killed during patrol in Afghan south

KABUL, Aug 10 (Reuters) One NATO soldier was killed and another wounded today during a patrol in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.

Separately, five Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in the northwestern province of Badghis, a defence ministry spokesman said.

The soldiers were travelling in a joint convoy with NATO forces when the ambush happened, Zahir Azimi said, adding eight Afghan military vehicles were destroyed.

NATO planes were summoned after the ambush and some 20 Taliban fighters were killed in the air strike, he said, but did not know if there were any casualties among NATO soldiers.

NATO could not be contacted immediately about the Badghis ambush.

Also two Afghan police were killed in a Taliban ambush today in the northern province of Kunduz, a provincial official said. The police were in a convoy carrying prisoners when ambushed, he said.

The identities of the soldiers killed and wounded during the patrol in the south and the circumstances of the incident were not made clear. The death brings the number of foreign troops killed in action in Afghanistan this year to 95.

Several hundred more Western soldiers have been wounded in the Taliban-led insurgency, which has been at its fiercest in the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001.

REUTERS AE RN2038