KABUL, Afghanistan — One NATO soldier and an estimated 57 insurgents were killed in four separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide bomb attack at a restaurant killed 15 Afghans and wounded 24, officials said Sunday.

Insurgents attacked NATO-led forces Saturday near the Tirin Kot district of Uruzgan province. NATO returned fire and called in attack aircraft, killing approximately 50 insurgents, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. One NATO soldier was also killed. Officials have not yet released the soldier's nationality.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant in southeast Paktika province, killing 15 Afghans and injuring 24, said provincial governor Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.

The restaurant, located in Urgun district, was destroyed, Akhpelwak said.

Akhpelwak said the attacker, who was Pakistani, was believed to be targeting an Afghan special forces commander and a district chief who were at the restaurant and were among the injured.

NATO has said that as of mid-November 97 suicide attacks this year have killed 217 people.

In the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on Saturday, insurgents fired on Afghan army and NATO soldiers. A retaliatory air strike killed approximately five insurgents, said the ISAF statement. Three NATO soldiers were injured.

In neighboring Zabul province, about 50 Taliban fighters attacked the Arghandab district chief's compound on Saturday and clashed with police for about an hour, leaving one Taliban dead and three wounded, said district chief Fazal Bari. He said the police suffered no casualties.

On the main Kabul-Kandahar highway in Zabul province, Taliban fighters ambushed a police convoy Saturday night and exchanged gunfire with police, said Zabul highway police commander Jainani Khan. One Taliban was killed.

Attacks and clashes occur almost daily in the lawless southern provinces, the former Taliban stronghold where the Afghan government wields little power.