Kabul, July 13 (Reuters): Insurgents killed nine US soldiers in an assault on an outpost of the Afghan army and Nato in northeastern Afghanistan today, making it one of the worst days for foreign troops in the country since 2001.

Afghanistan is suffering from a rising tide of violence this year, with a sharp increase in Taliban attacks, especially in the east where Nato says militants have taken advantage of peace deals in Pakistan to cross the border and fight. The Indian embassy in Kabul was also attacked last week.

“The fighting began in the early morning hours and continued into the day as insurgents were repulsed from an Afghan National Army and ISAF combat outpost,” a statement by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said.

The dead soldiers were all American, a Nato official said.

“Although no final assessment has been made, it is believed insurgents suffered heavy casualties during several hours of fighting,” the statement said.

The fighting took place in the northeastern province of Kunar, close to the border with Pakistan and also to Nuristan province.

Afghan authorities said earlier in the day five Pakistani Taliban were killed and 13 more wounded after they infiltrated Nuristan. ISAF said it had no record of any fighting in Nuristan today, so it was not clear whether the Afghan authorities were referring to the same clashes which the Nato force said were in a nearby area.

Separately on Sunday, a roadside bomb killed a US coalition soldier in the southern province of Helmand. At least 40 militants were killed as Afghan and coalition troops returned fire and called in air strikes, the US military said in a statement.

A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 17 civilians, most of them children, and four police personnel in a bazaar in southern Afghanistan today, the police said.