Kabul: A soldier with the NATO-led military force in Afghanistan and an Afghan interpreter were killed today while on patrol in the insurgency-hit south of the country, NATO said.

Two other troopers were wounded in the incident, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement, which did not give the nationality of the foreign soldier or location of the incident.

The latest incident took to 155 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year. Most have been killed in hostile action linked to the Taliban-led insurgency.

ISAF is made up of about 37,000 troops drawn from 37 nations under a United Nations mandate to help Afghanistan's fragile government maintain security and extend its authority across the turbulent country.

Those in the south are mainly from Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. The soldiers are facing tough resistance from the extremist Islamic Taliban movement, which was in government for around five years until a US-led invasion drove them out in late 2001. The unrest is especially intense in the south.