Seventeen insurgents were killed by ISAF, while one coalition soldier was killed and another injured in the volatile Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday.

The rebels were killed on Friday night on a road close to an ISAF base in the southern Uruzgan province when they were placing roadside bombs, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

"ISAF forces engaged the insurgents first by exchanging small arms fire, then by calling in close air support," it said, adding "Two small bombs were dropped on the insurgent positions."

Five insurgent vehicles were also destroyed in the conflict, said the statement, which added there were no ISAF casualties.

Also on Friday, a soldier of the U.S.-led coalition forces was killed and another wounded during two separate attacks by militants at a fire base in the eastern Khost province, a coalition statement said.

Some Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attacks at the base, which is near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The killed soldier, a trainer embedded with Afghan forces, was assisting Afghan soldiers in improving their combat skills.

His nationality and name are yet to be announced.

About 20,000 coalition soldiers, most of whom are Americans, are deployed in eastern Afghanistan to hunt down militants, while some 21,000 ISAF troops are staying in other regions to keep security and facilitate reconstruction.

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,300 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed. Among the fatalities are more than 100 foreign troops.

Source: Xinhua