US soldier, 7 rebels die in Afghan clash

The joint US-Afghan army patrol was attacked in Paktika province in the southeast of the country.

"Coalition forces reported the enemy fleeing shortly after the ambush began. Coalition fixed- and rotary-wing attack aircraft and artillery responded to the attack," the US military said in a statement.

Three US soldiers were wounded, it said.

Thirteen US soldiers have been killed in a wave of clashes, blasts and ambushes in Afghanistan since late March.

About 150 insurgents have been killed, according to US and Afghan government figures. Dozens of government security men have also died in the fighting.

The United States commands an 18,300-strong international force in Afghanistan, most of whom are American, fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants and hunting their leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

US-led troops toppled the hardline Taliban government in late 2001 after it refused to hand over al-Qaeda bin Laden, the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

The name of the dead soldier was being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

Meanwhile, at least 12 Afghan passengers were killed when a minibus and a US military vehicle were in collision yesterday in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The accident occurred on the Kandahar-Spin Boldak highway near the Pakistani border and US troops immediately cordoned off the area, Spin Boldak's police chief Abdul Wasay said.

"Today, a minibus had an accident with a US military vehicle on the Kandahar-Spin Boldak highway, in which 12 civilians have died," Wasay said.