Kabul  - Two NATO-led soldiers were killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, while eight Taliban militants were killed by Afghan and US-led coalition forces elsewhere in the country, officials said Tuesday.

In the latest attack, a NATO soldier was killed and three were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the southern region on Tuesday, the alliance said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the nationality of the deceased soldier, citing the policy of the organization that does not reveal the nationality of a victim prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

The second fatality was a Dutch soldier, who was killed and another five of his comrades and two Afghan security forces were wounded when a Dutch military base in the southern province of Uruzgan was hit by two 107-millimetre missiles on Monday.

In Amsterdam, Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop on Tuesday confirmed the death of the Dutch soldier.

He said Azdin Chadli, 20, died when the missiles hit Camp Holland, the Dutch military base. Five other Dutch soldiers between the ages of 19 to 24 sustained injuries, but were reportedly in "stable" condition.

Some 1,200 Dutch troops are stationed in Uruzgan as part of a 60,000-strong International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF) troop deployment to Afghanistan from
42 nations. The Dutch mission is due to end by August 2010.

In the northern province of Kunduz, Taliban militants attacked a police post in Qala Zal district on Monday night, but their assault was repulsed by the police forces, leaving two militants dead, Abdul Rahman Aqtaash, deputy provincial police chief, said.

He said one body was left behind near the site of the clash and police identified him as a rebel commander who was responsible for Taliban military operations in the area. The militants took away the other dead body as they fled the area, he said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed that one Taliban militant was killed in the attack, but he said that the dead man was an ordinary Taliban fighter.

Kunduz province is the main hub for Taliban insurgents in the relatively peaceful northern region. The militants are said to have bases in the province and often launch attacks on the NATO-led German forces in the area.

The militants fired two rockets at the Kunduz airport 20 minutes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel left the province. The missiles landed outside the perimeter fence and caused no casualties or damage.

But the Taliban claimed that the rockets were fired as the plane carrying Merkel was landing on the tarmac.

Merkel was on a two-day visit of the northern region of the country, where 3,800 German soldiers are stationed. Three attacks on German soldiers occurred near the Kunduz base shortly before Merkel's visit, but caused no casualties.

Meanwhile, in the volatile southern region, Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed six militants in two separate operations, the US military said in statements.

Four militants were killed and two were detained in an operation in Maiwand district of southern Kandahar province on Monday, while on the same day two more militants were killed in the neighbouring Helmand province, the military said. (dpa)