Afghanistan

Explosions kill three coalition soldiers and ten civilians

Article published on the 2008-11-13 Latest update 2008-11-13 16:04 TU

A wounded man after Wednesday's attack in Kandahar.
(Photo: AFP)

Two British soldiers were killed when an explosion hit their convoy in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan Wednesday, the British Foreign Ministry said. On Thursday, a suicide attack in the eastern Nangarhar province killed one US soldier and ten Afghan civilians.

The cause of the first explosion, which killed two British Royal Marines while they patrolled alongside Afghan troops, remains unknown. Military investigators have not yet determined whether it was an unexploded ordinance, a mine or an improvised roadside device.

A suicide bomber on Thursday targeted a crowded market area on the road between the Pakistani border and Jalalabad, wounding 74 people, in addition to the 11 dead, a local official said.

Zabilhullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London, condemned the attacks.

These new casualties bring the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 261. Insurgent attacks are at record highs this year, despite the reinforced international presence in Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters also attacked the governor of a normally-calm northern district on Thursday, wounding him and killing a local school teacher.

These incidents come after a bomb-filled tanker was detonated outside the office of the provincial council in Kandahar on Wednesday, killing six and wounding 42.

In Copenhagen on Thursday, a Danish soldier was sentenced to six months in jail for having accidentally killed a comrade. The judge deemed that a stiff sentence was necessary because the soldier had loaded a machine gun with live rounds while on base, and fired on fellow soldiers without confirming their identities – all clear breaches of military regulations.