Brussels, 11 May (AKI) - Two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, NATO said. In line with its policy, NATO did not disclose the nationalities of the fallen soldiers nor the exact location of the roadside bomb attack.

Tuesday's fatalities bring to 169 the number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year.

At least a dozen international soldiers, most of them Americans, have been killed in militant attacks over the past 10 days, according to Pajhwok Afghan News.

In other developments, pro-government militia commander was injured while two of his guards were killed in a clash with insurgents in the increasingly volatile northern province of Kunduz, officials said on Tuesday.

The commander, Ishaq Nizami was travelling along with his bodyguards when the militants ambushed their vehicle in the Taloka area, governor's spokesman, Mehboobullah Saeed, said.

A third guard sustained injuries in the attack. The commander and the wounded guard were in a stable condition. The clash lasted several hours, said Saeed, who believed the assailants also suffered casualties.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the fighters killed the militia commander along with seven guards. But the claim could not be verified independently.

Thousands of additional US and NATO troops in the process of being deploying to turn the tide against the Taliban-led insurgency in the war-hit country.