KABUL • A British soldier serving with the NATO force in Afghanistan died in an explosion that wounded two other troops, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said

yesterday.

The soldier was killed after the vehicle he was travelling in hit a mine during a routine patrol near southern Helmand province's Naw Zad district on Friday, British Lieutenant Colonel Robin Matthews said.

Two other British soldiers were wounded in the explosion, Matthews said without further detail.

Similar incidents have been blamed on the Taliban who often use roadside bombs in their ongoing insurgency against the Western-backed government and foreign troop presence in the country.