In a separate incident, one Afghan policeman and five Taliban rebels including a local commander were killed in a clash in Zabul province, police said.

The latest casualties come three days after two British soldiers serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died in an explosion in volatile Kandahar province.

"Two ISAF soldiers were killed and two were wounded during an explosion in southern Afghanistan early this morning," the NATO-led force said in a statement.

ISAF did not reveal the names or nationalities of the victims, leaving that task to their home countries, nor did it reveal the exact location of the incident.

A total of 42 foreign soldiers have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan. Last year, nearly 220 international soldiers helping Kabul tackle a Taliban-led insurgency lost their lives.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion, but similar acts have in the past been blamed on Taliban militants.

In Zabul, the policemen was killed in a militant ambush, which sparked a firefight that left five Taliban dead including local commander Mullah Manan, area police said.

The extremist militia last month announced it would launch a new offensive in the Afghan spring, as weather conditions improve in the mountainous country -- but ISAF dismissed that statement as untrue.

Nevertheless, the violence has increased, with more than 70 people including two dozen police and as many civilians killed in the past three weeks.

Most of the deadly violence occurred in the country's south and east -- a troubled region bordering Pakistan, where militants are active and are said to have some local support.

The Taliban, who were in power between 1996 to 2001, are trying to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and oust tens of thousands of foreign soldiers based here to fight them back.

As part of their campaign the Islamic rebels have frequently used roadside and suicide bombings against the heavily-armed NATO-led soldiers.

More than 70,000 foreign troops, the bulk of them operating under ISAF, are stationed in Afghanistan and NATO pledged to even further increase the number of its forces during the alliance's summit earlier this month in Bucharest.

Nearly 2,500 US marines were deployed in the restive south a week ago.

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