US-led coalition forces killed four women and a child in an operation in the country's southern region, while one coalition soldier died in an explosion and several militants were killed in anti-Taliban raids, officials said Friday.

The civilians were killed in an operation that targeted a Taliban militant "known to coordinate foreign fighter operations" in the Giro district of Ghazni province in southern Afghanistan Thursday, a US military statement said.

"As coalition forces approached a compound, they were threatened by several armed militants," it said. "The force responded with small-arms' fire, killing the militants and inadvertently killing four women and a child located with them."

The combined forces also killed several suspected militants and arrested three others, the statement said, adding that the forces also discovered homemade-bomb-making materials and destroyed them.

Civilian casualties during the international military operations against Taliban insurgents have become a great matter of concern for the Afghan government's attempts to win the public support.

There are also mounting civilian casualties caused by suicide or roadside attacks carried out by Taliban fighters.

Around 1,000 civilians have been killed so far this year, more than 260 in July, making it the deadliest month for civilians since the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001, according to a coordinating agency.

More than 1,500 civilians were killed in violence last year.

Meanwhile, a US-led coalition soldier was killed when the convoy he was traveling with struck a roadside bomb on Friday, the US military said in a statement.

The military did not disclose the name and nationality of the dead soldier or the exact location of the incident. Most coalition soldiers are from the United States.

In another incident, Afghan and coalition forces killed four suspected Taliban militants as they were planting a roadside bomb in the Nahr-e-Surkh district in the volatile southern province of Helmand.

"Once the militants were positively identified, the combined forces engaged the militants with indirect fire, killing all four," US military statement said.

Roadside and suicide attacks have become common tactics for the Taliban militants, who have waged a bloody war to topple the Western-backed Afghan government and expel some 70,000 international troops from the country.