Six soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, an ISAF statement said.

A vehicle carrying the six soldiers hit an explosive device, and was totally damaged, the statement said.

Another ISAF solider was injured in the explosion and is receiving medical attention at an ISAF medical facility, it added.

No local civilians were injured in this incident, according to the statement.

The statement did not give a more detailed location of the incident.

In accordance with NATO policy, ISAF also does not release the casualties' nationality prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Taliban militants have carried out similar attacks frequently.

About 4,500 ISAF and 1,000 Afghan soldiers are carrying out a major offensive dubbed Operation Achilles in northern Helmand in southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of Taliban militants.

Some 36,000 ISAF soldiers are being deployed in this country to fight Taliban and other anti-government insurgents.

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgency, over 700 persons, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in Afghanistan this year.