Nato soldier dies in Afghan blast

There has been an increase in attacks in recent months

A soldier with the Nato-led force has been killed in a blast in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.

A statement issued by the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) did not reveal the soldier's nationality or the exact location of the attack.

Separately, an explosion in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan has injured four people, police say.

Afghanistan has seen a rise in violence recently, with suicide attacks aimed at foreign troops increasingly common.

The blast took place during a patrol in the south, where foreign troops are fighting Taleban militants.

More than 450 international troops have died in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2006.

Friday's attack in Mazar-e-Sharif took place near the city's main shrine, where people had gathered to celebrate the new year, or Nowruz, a local police official said.

Last week, six people were killed and at least 15 injured in a car bomb attack on a coalition convoy near the airport in the capital, Kabul.

In February, a car bomb in the southern city of Kandahar killed more than 100 people. It was the worst single attack since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

A recent UN report said there were 8,000 conflict-related deaths in 2007 - a fifth of which were civilians.