Brussels - The European Union on Monday welcomed a ceasefire agreement in Somalia, while NATO said it had successfully completed its first anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stressed the importance of cooperation between the two Brussels-based institutions during a regular meeting of ambassadors at the alliance's headquarters.

One area in which the two organizations are working together is in the fight against pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden.

Mons, Belgium - Three NATO warships have reached the coast of Somalia and are ready to defend United Nations vessels from possible attacks by pirates, the alliance confirmed Friday.

Italy's ITS Durand de la Penne, Greece's HS Themistokles and Britain's HMS Cumberland were to begin escorting World Food Programme (WFP) vessels carrying food aid to Africa.

Kabul- Three soldiers in the US-led coalition were killed in a roadside bombing in western Afghanistan while dozens of militants were killed in clashes between Afghan and international forces elsewhere in the country, officials said Thursday.

The three soldiers were killed and another was wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb blast Wednesday night, the US military said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the victims, but most of the soldiers serving in the coalition are from the United States.

Kabul - NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 60 Taliban militants in country's southern region in separate clashes, officials said Monday.

In the latest attack, Afghan and NATO forces killed 34 Taliban militants in volatile southern Helmand province on Sunday night, Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor said.

He said several weapons, vehicles and motorbikes used by the militants were recovered by the joint forces.

Kabul  - A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of NATO-led forces in western Afghanistan on Saturday, wounding four soldiers, officials said Saturday.

The bomber attacked Italian troops near an airport on the outskirts of the capital of Herat province, regional police spokesman Abdul Raouf Ahmadi said.

"The bomber died in the attack, and one of the Italian military tanks was thrown out of the main road, because the blast was very powerful," Ahmadi said.

Kabul, Oct 18 : A suicide car bomb exploded outside a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) base at Heart in Afghanistan on Saturday, wounding at least five soldiers, according to reports.

The explosion took place at the gates of the base, which is run by Italian troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with some Spanish soldiers also stationed there.

An ISAF media official at the force''''s headquarters in Kabul said, "We did have casualties - just wounded."