Two Spanish soldiers were killed and another six injured, three of them seriously, in Afghanistan when their military convoy ran over a landmine, Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.

An Iranian interpreter who was travelling with the Spaniards also died, he told a news conference.

The Defence Ministry had initially reported that two soldiers were killed, and another two were badly injured, in the explosion near the town of Shewan in the western province of Farah where Taliban activity is on the rise.

Spain has some 700 troops in western Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).