KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A NATO soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan, where six civilians were also wounded Wednesday in a bomb blast while traveling on a road close to the military alliance's main base in southern Afghanistan.
The soldier was killed in a "hostile incident" Wednesday, a NATO statement said, without providing the exact location of the incident or the nationality of the victim.
Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency. Thousands of new U.S. troops will deploy there later this year, to try to reverse the inroads the militants have made in the last three years.
Also Wednesday, a roadside blast hit a civilian vehicle south of Kandahar city, wounding six civilians, said the spokesman for Kandahar province's governor, Zalmai Ayubi.
Two of those hurt are in critical condition, he said.
Militants regularly plant bombs alongside roads used by foreign and Afghan troops, but the majority of victims in those attacks are civilians.
