A NATO troop has been killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Friday.

The service member died in an explosion in Zabul province Thursday, NATO''S International Security Assistance Force said. A spokesman declined to provide further details.

NATO forces typically do not release the nationalities of troops killed or wounded, leaving such statements to their home country. A number of countries have troops in Zabul, including Romania, Canada, the United States and Britain.

Afghanistan''s southern provinces continue to be Taliban strongholds wracked by violence, even years after the overthrow of the hard-line Islamist regime in 2001.

President Barack Obama has ordered another 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan to try to fight back the strengthening insurgency. They will add to 38,000 American troops already in Afghanistan.