Kabul - US-led troops claimed their forces killed 11 Taliban militants in an operation that targeted a roadside-bomb-making network in southern Afghanistan, while a bomber was the only victim in a suicide attack in the western region, officials said Friday.

The eleven militants, including one of their leaders, were killed when the combined forces raided their hideout in Maiwand district of the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday, the US military said in a statement.

Initially the militants, who had barricaded inside the targeted compound, fired on the approaching forces, the statement said, adding the combined forces waited to evacuate the civilians to safety first and then engaged the militants, killing all inside.

A woman who sustained wounds to her leg was evacuated to a coalition hospital, where she was reported to be in stable condition, it said.

After the search of the compound, the coalition forces found dozens of landmines, grenades, several PKM machine guns, multiple AK-47 assault rifles and bomb making materials hidden in the area, it added.

In a separate incident, a suicide bomber driving a mini-van filled with explosives attacked an international military convoy in the western province of Herat on Friday morning, killing himself, but causing no casualties on the side of the foreign forces or civilians, police said.

The attack took place in an area north of Herat provincial airport, where thousands of NATO-led forces are stationed, Noor Khan Nikzad, spokesman for the provincial police chief said.

As part of their campaign to topple the Western-backed Afghan government and to expel nearly 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan, Taliban militants rely heavily on use of suicide and roadside attacks, both tactics widely believed to have been copied from Iraqi insurgents.

The militants conducted more than 100 suicide attacks this year as they intensified their insurgency in war-wracked Afghanistan. Most of the attacks targeted foreign forces or Afghan officials, but left more casualties among the civilians.

Following the worst period in insurgency this year since the fall of the Taliban regime some seven years ago, Afghan and NATO military officials are warning of more Taliban-led violence next year.

Some of the NATO troops contributing countries have been mulling whether to send extra soldiers to combat the resurgent Taliban. The US has already announced it will send an additional 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers by mid 2009. (dpa)