Nato soldier dies in Afghan clash

British forces are mostly based in Helmand

A Nato soldier has been killed after being ambushed in southern Afghanistan, the fourth foreign soldier to be killed in as many days, the alliance says.

It said that militants fired on a Nato patrol in Kajaki district of Helmand province on Tuesday.

The British soldier was initially wounded but later died, officials say.

Meanwhile, there has been more fighting near the capital, Kabul, between US troops and militants. Officials say that several insurgents were killed.

They say that the clashes took place in central Wardak province as troops were hunting for a Taleban leader believed to have been responsible for an attack that killed three American troops and their interpreter last month.

A coalition statement says that the fighting happened as troops were searching compounds in Saydabad district in Wardak on Tuesday. Militants attacked with grenades, machine guns and small-arms.

Troops fired back and called in an airstrike, the statement said. It did not say whether the Taleban commander was among the dead.

There is no independent confirmation.

Correspondents say that the latest Nato casualty means that 139 international soldiers have been killed so far this year fighting Taleban insurgents. Nearly 220 died last year.

The monthly death tolls of US-led and Nato troops in Afghanistan surpassed US military deaths in Iraq in May and June.