KABUL, May 16: A US soldier was killed and another two injured when their combat patrol was attacked in southern Afghanistan, a US military spokeswoman said on Sunday. "A coalition convoy was attacked on Saturday near Gereshk" in southern Helmand province, Lieutenant Colonel Michele DeWerth said.

"One US soldier was killed; two soldiers were injured and returned to duty," she said without elaborating. A militiaman was detained at the scene, she said. In a separate incident in Kunar province, a US base came under rocket attack in Asadabad about 180 kilometres northeast of Kabul on Saturday, a local official said.

"Two rockets were fired over the American base but fell outside of it," provincial government official Mohammed Yusuf said. The top US military commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Barno, has warned that the country's south is experiencing an upswing in suspected Taliban violence. -AFP