(Corrects Dutch death toll in Afghanistan to five from six following official correction from the Dutch defence ministry)

AMSTERDAM, April 20 (Reuters) - A Dutch soldier has been killed by stepping on a land mine in Afghanistan, the first Dutch combat casualty as part of a NATO force in the country, a Dutch defence ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The soldier died in the southern Helmand province, the spokesman said. Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar province are the main bulwark of support for Taliban guerrillas battling the NATO force.

Last year saw the bloodiest fighting by Taliban rebels since they were ousted from power in 2001.

NATO has a force of more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan. Many countries have contributed, but the brunt of the fighting has been borne by U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch forces deployed in the restive south.

Five Dutch soldiers died in Afghanistan last year, two in a helicopter crash, one in a fighter plane crash and one in an armoured vehicle accident while the fifth was a suicide.

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