Mine kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - A land mine explosion killed a NATO soldier and wounded four more Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, where fighting between U.S.-led troops and suspected Taliban left seven militants dead, officials said.

Violence is surging in Afghanistan as both militants and foreign troops step up their struggle over the fate of Afghanistan's five-year-old pro-Western government.
NATO said two of the soldiers hit in the mine blast were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. Three others were treated at the scene for minor injuries, an alliance statement said.
The nationality of the troops was not released, though most of the NATO soldiers in the east are American.

Troops from the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan army, meanwhile, launched an operation against "an important group of enemies" in Paktika province late Wednesday, said Mohammad Ekram Akhpelwak, the province's governor.
Seven suspected militants were killed and seven others were detained and held for questioning, Akhpelwak said, without identifying the men further.
Coalition officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The latest NATO casualty came a day after three Canadian troops died when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle in Kandahar province.
Violence this year has left over 2,400 people — mostly militants — dead, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western military and Afghan officials.
Lt. Col. Maria Carl, spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said Wednesday that Afghanistan was in the midst of the so-called fighting season," but insisted that a spate of suicide bombings and other attacks were "militarily insignificant."