Afghan and NATO-led troops killed up to 70 insurgents in a battle involving attack helicopters and air support while a soldier from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a bomb blast, the force said Sunday.

The separate incidents occurred on Saturday in the southern province of Uruzgan, where ISAF has based Australian and Dutch soldiers in the battle to rid the country of Taliban insurgents. ISAF and Afghan National Army troops were attacked by between 100 and 150 insurgents near a base in the province, the force said in a statement.

"In a firefight lasting several hours, the insurgents were engaged by ISAF and (Afghan) small-arms fire, attack helicopters and close air support," it said.

"We know that insurgents have been seeking to use north Uruzgan as a safe haven and we have been taking action," ISAF spokesman Major Luke Knittig said. "They initiated the action but we were there with a purpose and ready for them."

In the second encounter, an ISAF convoy was struck by a bomb. One soldier was killed and one wounded, another statement said.

ISAF has 31,000 troops from 37 countries across Afghanistan trying to help local authorities establish security five years after the Taliban were removed from power.

(China Daily October 30, 2006)