Kabul - Three NATO soldiers and 18 Taliban militants died in fighting in Afghanistan on Friday and Saturday, according to a NATO statement released Saturday.

The fighting comes as Afghanistan prepares for a new round of elections next month to decide the final outcome of widely discredited balloting in August that seemed to give an edge to incumbent President Hamid Karzai.

A NATO soldier was killed in firefight, while two US service members were killed in a roadside bombing, the alliance said in a statement. Both incidents took place on Friday in the country's southern region.

Afghan defence ministry and NATO military also said Saturday that their forces killed up to 18 insurgents in the north-eastern province of Kapisa and the southern province of Kandahar over the past 24 hours. (dpa)