Mine kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan

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KABUL, Jun 21 (AP): A land mine explosion killed a NATO soldier and wounded four more Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, where fighting between US-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 US-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.