A US soldier and 18 Taliban militants are killed in Afghanistan

A US soldier and 18 Taliban militants have been killed in the latest attacks in Afghanistan, bringing to more than 300 the number of American troops killed in the war this year.

An improvised explosive device exploded in eastern Afghanistan, killing the soldier serving teh NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Saturday, said the military.

A NATO airstrike targeted a group of insurgents, who were planting mine near Mehtarlam, the capital of the eastern province of Laghman on Sunday, killing six militants, the Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement.

“A group of militants who were attempting to plant mines along the road in eastern Laghman province early this morning to target security forces but the troops acting upon intelligence report killed six rebels,” read a statement from the Defense Ministry in Kabul.

The US military said five Taliban militants were killed in a firefight with Afghan and NATO forces in Panjwayee district of the southern province of Kandahar on the same day.

With around nearly 490 international troops, including about 300 US soldiers, killed in Afghanistan so far this year, 2009 marks the deadliest period for NATO and US forces since the end of Taliban regime in late 2001.