Two civilians were killed and six other were wounded in a suicide attack against a US private security firm in southern Afghanistan, while a NATO soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast in the same region, officials announced on Thursday.

The bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of a US private security company in southern city of Kandahar, the provincial capital of the same name, on Thursday afternoon, killing two passers-by civilians, Zelmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor said.

He said six other civilians were wounded in the attack, but there were no casualties among the personnel of the company.

However, a police officer at the site of the attack told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that two foreign nationals who were riding in one of the vehicles were also wounded. The officer was speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, a NATO soldier serving under the banner of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal the nationality of the deceased soldier.

But the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, citing the UK defence ministry, said that a British soldier was killed in southern Helmand province in an explosion.

Around 8,000-strong British forces are stationed in Helmand province. The British forces are part of some 53,000 NATO-led ISAF troops that have been deployed to Afghanistan from some 40 nations.

Taliban militants have recently increased the use of roadside and suicide attacks, both tactics widely believed to have been copied from Iraqi insurgents. The bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of a US private security company in southern city of Kandahar, the provincial capital of the same name, on Thursday afternoon, killing two passers-by civilians, Zelmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor said.

He said six other civilians were wounded in the attack, but there were no casualties among the personnel of the company.

However, a police officer at the site of the attack told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that two foreign nationals who were riding in one of the vehicles were also wounded. The officer was speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, a NATO soldier serving under the banner of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal the nationality of the deceased soldier.