Five US soldiers killed in Afghan blasts

KABUL - Five US soldiers were killed Saturday by roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan, while two policemen and a parliamentary candidate died in other attacks.

A US military spokesman confirmed the soldiers’ deaths. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said they died in two separate blasts, but did not reveal the exact location.

Nearly 400 international soldiers, including more than 250 from the US, have been killed in Afghanistan this year. At least 70 have died this month. Around 140,000 US and NATO troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, two Afghan policemen were killed and another two injured by a roadside bomb Friday in Kandahar, capital of the southern province of the same name, the Interior Ministry said.

Separately, a local elder who was also candidate in the country’s September parliamentary elections, was killed and 19 people injured when a bomb went off in a mosque in the town of Khost.

Maulawi Shaheedullah, “was seriously wounded in the blast, but later died of his injuries in hospital,” said Abdul Hakim Eshaqzai, police chief of Khost province.

Three Taliban were also killed Friday in the western province of Herat when two roadside bombs they were trying to plant went off prematurely, the Interior Ministry said.