Kabul- US military spokesmen confirmed that Taliban rebels shot down a US helicopter in central Afghanistan Monday, while three US-led soldiers died in suicide and roadside attacks elsewhere in the country, officials said.

The helicopter crew engaged with Taliban fighters on the ground in Wardak province, about 50 kilometres west of Kabul city, US military spokesman Major Johan Redfield told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the chopper was hit by "enemy fire" but none of the 10-member crew was killed.

Berlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, wounding five of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday evening on a main road near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Kabul  - US military spokesmen confirmed that Taliban rebels shot down a US helicopter in central Afghanistan Monday.

The helicopter crew engaged with Taliban fighters on the ground in Wardak province, about 50 kilometres west of Kabul city, US military spokesman Major Johan Redfield told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the chopper was hit by "enemy fire" but none of the 10-member crew was killed.

The engagement was still ongoing, Redfield said, but he declined to provide any details, including whether the soldiers suffered injuries.

A Taliban spokesman in the area, Ahmad Baheer, said their forces shot down the helicopter with rocket-propelled grenade, killing all aboard.

Berlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, seriously wounding two of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Several persons were wounded, among them two men who suffered serious injuries that required treatment in a a nearby German field hospital, he added.

Kabul - More than 1,000 foreign soldiers died in Afghanistan since late 2001, the internet site icasualties. org said Monday.

Kabul- A suicide bomber in police uniform blew himself up inside a police headquarters in northern Afghanistan, killing two soldiers serving with the US-led coalition and wounding eight people, including police officers, officials said Monday.

"Two coalition soldiers were killed and three wounded in an attack in northern Afghanistan," a spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan said.