A Taliban suicide car bomb killed five Afghan civilians and one US soldier in an attack on a US convoy in Kabul today, officials said.
It was the third suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital in eight days, and comes as Taliban insurgents say they are in the middle of an offensive to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"A routine convoy operation here in Kabul today was hit by a suicide, vehicle-born, improvised explosive device," said US military spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Clint Larson. "One US soldier was injured in the attack. He has since died of his wounds."
Two large, black Chevrolet four-wheel drive vehicles were hit by the blast, witnesses said. One of the vehicles lay on its side engulfed in flames, the other received minor damage.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
After suffering heavy casualties in conventional battles, Taliban rebels have grown increasingly reliant in the last two years on suicide attacks aimed at convincing ordinary Afghans their government and its Western backers cannot provide security.
In a separate attack, five Afghan police were killed by a roadside bomb north of the eastern city of Khost, a provincial health official said.
Afghanistan is going through its worst period of violence since US-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.