Afghan suicide blast kills seven

A suicide bomber has struck a patrol from the Nato-led force in northern Afghanistan, killing at least two soldiers and five children, Nato says.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) did not reveal the soldiers' nationality.

Earlier a female foreign aid worker was shot dead in the capital, Kabul.

Meanwhile, Isaf has acknowledged that civilians may have been killed in an air strike it says targeted insurgents last week in southern Helmand province.

'Germans'

The governor of Kunduz province, Mohammad Omar, said the Isaf soldiers killed were German.

Another soldier and one civilian were wounded in the attack in Chahar Dara district.

It is Isaf policy to withhold the nationality of casualties until their home countries can be notified.

Germany has about 3,000 soldiers in northern Afghanistan, many of them in Kunduz.

Air strike

Villagers in Nad Ali in Helmand province said 27 civilians were killed in last week's air strike.

Isaf said a joint investigation with the Afghan authorities had concluded that any such deaths were caused by the insurgents "placing innocent civilians in harms way".

It said the attack had been conducted in accordance with Afghan National Security Force and Isaf rules of engagement.