Kabul- US military spokesmen confirmed that Taliban rebels shot down a US helicopter in central Afghanistan Monday, while three US-led soldiers died in suicide and roadside attacks elsewhere in the country, officials said.

The helicopter crew engaged with Taliban fighters on the ground in Wardak province, about 50 kilometres west of Kabul city, US military spokesman Major Johan Redfield told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the chopper was hit by "enemy fire" but none of the 10-member crew was killed.

Kabul  - US military spokesmen confirmed that Taliban rebels shot down a US helicopter in central Afghanistan Monday.

The helicopter crew engaged with Taliban fighters on the ground in Wardak province, about 50 kilometres west of Kabul city, US military spokesman Major Johan Redfield told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the chopper was hit by "enemy fire" but none of the 10-member crew was killed.

The engagement was still ongoing, Redfield said, but he declined to provide any details, including whether the soldiers suffered injuries.

A Taliban spokesman in the area, Ahmad Baheer, said their forces shot down the helicopter with rocket-propelled grenade, killing all aboard.

Kabul - More than 1,000 foreign soldiers died in Afghanistan since late 2001, the internet site icasualties. org said Monday.

Kabul- A suicide bomber in police uniform blew himself up inside a police headquarters in northern Afghanistan, killing two soldiers serving with the US-led coalition and wounding eight people, including police officers, officials said Monday.

"Two coalition soldiers were killed and three wounded in an attack in northern Afghanistan," a spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan said.

Kabul - Two foreign nationals shot dead in Kabul Saturday were killed by their Afghan guard, who then committed suicide, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The South African and British nationals who worked as director and deputy director for DHL, an international shipping company, were shot dead in front of their office in downtown Kabul.

"Our investigation showed that one of the Afghan guards, who was

on duty yesterday morning, opened fire on DHL's director and deputy director as their vehicle reached the office, killing both on the spot," Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.