Two Nato soldiers killed in Afghanistan blast
A roadside bomb killed two Nato soldiers and wounded two others on patrol in eastern Afghanistan today, the alliance said.
The roadside bomb struck the soldiers’ vehicle in Nuristan province, Nato said. The two wounded soldiers were taken to a US military facility in Asadabad in neighbouring Kunar province.
Nato did not release the nationalities of the soldiers, but US troops are the primary Nato component in eastern Afghanistan.
Nato troops yesterday fought insurgents in southern Afghanistan for six hours in a firefight that killed 55 militants and one Nato soldier from the alliance’s International Security Assistance Force.
Twenty militants were wounded in the battle in Zabul province, Nato said.
The nationality of the soldier killed yesterday was also not released, though many of the Western troops in Zabul are also American.
Afghanistan has seen a sharp rise in violence the past several months, particularly in the southern and eastern provinces near the border with Pakistan.
Militants have been increasingly using roadside and suicide bombs in their attacks against Western and Afghan security forces.
In Ghazni province, meanwhile, a suicide attacker detonated explosives today outside the Andar district police chief’s office, killing one officer and wounding another, said Gen. Abdul Ghafar, the provincial police chief. Ghafar said the attacker tried to enter the chief’s office but was stopped by police.
Two Nato soldiers were also injured in the attack, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a Nato spokesman.
