Kabul - One coalition soldier and more than 20 Taliban militants, including foreign fighters, were killed in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday. A soldier of the US-led coalition was killed by small arms' fire during a combat patrol on Wednesday afternoon in western Afghanistan, the US military said in a statement.
The statement did not disclose the nationality of the dead soldier, nor did it provide details on the exact location of the incident.
Most of the soldiers serving under coalition forces are from the United States.
Taliban militants also attacked construction company workers Wednesday in the Alishir district of Khost province, provincial Governor Arsala Jamal said.
"Ten Taliban militants were killed when Afghan and US military forces arrived at the scene and clashed with the attackers," he said.
NATO also confirmed the attack and said that Afghan and US forces killed more than a dozen militants.
The latest bloodshed in Khost came a day after 10 suicide bombers were killed by US and Afghan soldiers after the bombers tried to enter a US military base in the province. In another attack against the same base, 10 Afghan civilians were killed and 13 were wounded Monday in a suicide car bombing.
Meanwhile, more than 10 militants, including foreign fighters, were killed and at least 10 were wounded Tuesday night when a coalition aircraft bombed Taliban positions in Paktia province, said Esmatuallah Alizai, provincial police chief.
"We had intelligence that militants had gathered in a valley in Aleemkhel village in Zormat district," he said, adding, "Coalition forces bombed their position and killed more than 10 militants, including Arab and Chechen fighters.
Police recovered the bodies of the militants and a rebel commander named Toofan was among the dead, Alizai said.
Taliban militants have stepped up their attacks against Afghan and international forces in recent weeks. Ten French soldiers were killed Tuesday in a Taliban attack east of Kabul.
More than 3,000 people - mostly insurgents but also including about 1,000 civilians and more than 170 international soldiers - have been killed so far this year.
