French soldier killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) - A French solder was killed and a second wounded Saturday when a bomb exploded as they worked a mission near Kabul, a military official said.

The soldiers were bomb specialists and were on foot conducting the mine-clearing mission, said Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French military. The explosion happened near the camp at Darul Aman, he said. The wounded soldier was taken to a medical facility outside Kabul.

Saturday's fatality was the 23rd France has reported since the U.S.-led conflict in Afghanistan started in October 2001. More than 1,000 coalition troops, most of them American, have died in the war.