KABUL, Afghanistan - Insurgents killed at least six Afghan soldiers in an ambush on an army patrol in western Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said Saturday.

The militants attacked the patrol Friday afternoon in Bala Buluk district of Farah province, said Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Defence Ministry. He said six soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in the gunbattle.

Azimi added that 12 militants have been killed in the Afghan military operation, which is still under way in the area.

Separately, the U.S.-led military coalition said a NATO service member died in a roadside bombing Saturday in the south and another was killed Friday in an insurgent attack in the west.

Twenty-nine international troops have been killed in Afghanistan so far this month, including at least 14 Americans.