KABUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- One soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in roadside bombing Friday in the restive southern Afghanistan, said a statement of the alliance issued here on Saturday.

    "An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member was killed in an IED strike that occurred yesterday in southern Afghanistan," the statement said.

    However, it did not disclose nationality of the victim or detailed place of the incident in light of ISAF policy.

    "Although it will be hard, we will not be deterred from succeeding in this UN-sanctioned, NATO-led mission. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot be allowed to once again plunge this country into a state of repression and fear," said Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay, an ISAF Spokesperson.

    Conflicts and violence have left 160 foreign troops dead in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2009 as the new deployed U.S. Marine launched a massive operation with Afghan troops to root out Taliban militants in Helmand province since July 2.