Kabul  - Two NATO soldiers were killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, where a police official was also killed by unknown gunmen, officials said Tuesday.

One soldier serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed Monday in a firefight with insurgents while another ISAF soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Monday, the alliance said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the soldiers nor was it more precise about the location of the incidents. However, Britain's Defence Ministry said one of its soldiers died Monday in an explosion while on foot patrol in the Musa Qaleh area of Helmand province

The majority of ISAF forces in southern Afghanistan are Canadian, British, Dutch and US troops.

In southern Logar province, Shah Mohammad, security chief of the province's Charkh district, was killed by unknown gunmen Tuesday morning, said Gholum Mustafa, provincial police chief.

Two men have been detained for questioning in connection with the killing, he said.

In a separate development, US-led coalition forces arrested a suspected Taliban leader and two of his associates Monday in the south-eastern province of Khost, the US military said in a statement.

The targeted leader, who is a member of the Haqqani group, an associate group of the Taliban, was involved in roadside attacks in the region, the statement charged, adding, "He is also wanted for the murder of several family members of an Afghan National Security Force commander in the Khost area."

Taliban-led violence is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of about 70,000 international forces in the country.

The Taliban regime was ousted in a US-led invasion in late 2001 for harbouring the al-Qaeda terrorist network after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks atainst the United States. (dpa)