Taliban militants killed 10 Afghan guards protecting a convoy transferring logistics for foreign troops deployed in this country on Thursday, an official said.

Taliban fighters ambushed a truck convoy near Qalat, the capital of the southern Zabul province, on a major road connecting Kabul and the southern Kandahar city, said Abdul Raus, an official from a security company.

Ten Afghan guards from the company were killed in a two-hour clash, he added.

Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack, saying one Taliban fighter was killed.

Meanwhile, a soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed and another one injured in a road accident in Kabul on Thursday, an ISAF statement said.

Due to rising Taliban violence, over 3,900 persons have been killed in Afghanistan this year.