By DPA,
Kabul : A US soldier was killed in western Afghanistan and more than a dozen militants were killed by Afghan and US forces in the eastern region, the military said Sunday.
The US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Saturday in the western region, a US military statement said.
With more than 400 NATO-led soldiers, including around 240 US service members, killed in Afghanistan so far this year, 2009 has become the deadliest year for the international troops since the start of their military engagement in late 2001.
In the eastern province of Kunar Sunday, US troops conducted an operation with Afghan soldiers against a mountainside compound, the statement said.
It said the combined forces killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant during the operation.
On Sunday, the joint forces captured several militants in the neighbouring Paktika province, it added.