Madrid: Spain's defence ministry says one Spanish soldier died and six were wounded in Afghanistan when their armoured vehicle ran over an explosive device.
The ministry says the Spanish troops were part of a convoy that was escorting a UN relief convoy in western Afghanistan near the town of Qali i Naw on Monday.
Spain has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan and the government has proposed sending another 500 in response to the US appeal for more allied help in fighting the Taliban. The new deployment needs parliamentary approval.
Spain has had troops in Afghanistan since 2002. Nearly 90 have died in connection with the mission, most of them in a plane crash in Turkey in May 2003 while returning home and in a helicopter crash in August 2005.
