Two foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Oct 26 (Reuters) Insurgents killed two soldiers from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan in an ambush in the east of the country, the force said in a statement today.

Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were also wounded in the clash when insurgents opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on the joint patrol with Afghan troops in the province of Kunar, bordering Pakistan.

ISAF does not release the nationalities of soldiers killed in in Afghanistan, but most of the troops in Kunar are American.

The soldiers responded with small arms fire and called in air support. Several Kalashnikov assault rifles and the body of one insurgent were recovered after the clash, the statement said.

Afghan and foreign troops are engaged in daily clashes with Taliban rebels in southern and eastern Afghanistan and invariably beat the insurgents, but the steady trickle of foreign casualties is undermining support for the troops' mission in the West.

REUTERS SS RK1632