KABUL, Oct 8: Six Taliban militants and an Afghan army soldier have been killed in clashes across insurgency-hit Afghanistan over the past few days, the Afghan defence ministry said on Sunday.

Five of the rebels were killed during a gunfight with Afghan and US-led troops in eastern Paktika province on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.

An armed rebel was captured following the fighting, it said.

An Afghan soldier was killed the same day in a similar battle elsewhere in the restive province on the Pakistan border, the ministry said, without providing more details.

On Thursday militants fired from a moving vehicle at an Afghan army patrol in southern Helmand province but failed to cause any casualties.

However, one of the attackers was killed in return fire, the statement said.

Four Taliban fighters were also injured on Thursday after ambushing a military patrol in the southern province of Zabul, the ministry said.

Separately, two soldiers were hurt when their vehicle struck a mine in Kandahar, which has seen much of this year’s Taliban-led insurgency and is the biggest city in southern Afghanistan.—AFP