Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan National Police and NATO- led forces seized 250 tons (225,000 kilograms) of bomb-making material in an operation in the southern province of Kandahar, the alliance said.

A patrol investigating a warehouse found 1,000 bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a material that is illegal in the country and is often used by insurgents to make bombs, and detained 15 people, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s force said today in an e-mailed statement. Another 4,000 bags were later found at a nearby compound, NATO said. Some 5,000 components used for making bombs were also discovered.

“This find will undoubtedly save many lives and points to the increasing capability of the Afghan national security forces,” Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said in the statement.

The alliance also said a member of the U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan was killed today by an insurgent bomb. The location of the attack wasn’t given.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Langan in London at hlangan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 08:08 EST