Two Afghans killed in suicide attack on NATO convoy

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of NATO-led forces in southeastern Afghanistan on Saturday killed two Afghan civilians, an official said.

One NATO soldier was wounded in the attack which happened on a road outside the town of Khost, close to the border with Pakistan. U.S. troops form the bulk of foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan.

"One child and one elderly man have been killed and three more civilians were wounded," said Dawlat Qayoumi, district chief of Mandozai where the attack took place.

Violence has surged in the past two years in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 after it refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks on the United States.

As part of its campaign, the Taliban Islamist movement relies on suicide attacks and roadside bomb blasts against the Afghan government and some 50,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Civilians are often victims of the fighting.

NATO-led forces killed two non-combatants, a woman and a man, during a house search in Khost province on Friday night, the provincial governor said.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Jerry Norton)