Bomb kills 3 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan

updated 5:52 a.m. ET Aug. 12, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb blast killed three U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, bringing to five the number of international troops killed over the weekend, officials said.

The three troops were engaged in combat operations in Nangarhar province when the roadside bomb hit their vehicle, a statement from the U.S.-led coalition said. A civilian interpreter was also killed.

The coalition did not announce the nationalities of the soldiers, though Noor Agha Zuwak, the spokesman for the Nangarhar governor, identified the troops as American. The majority of troops in eastern Afghanistan are from the U.S.

NATO soldier killed
Elsewhere, one NATO soldier was killed and several others wounded in an attack Saturday in the south, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement Sunday.

Another NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle during a patrol Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF said.

ISAF did not give any further details such as the exact locations of the two incidents or the nationalities of the soldiers.

The five deaths brings to at least 127 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year, including at least 61 Americans, according an Associated Press count.

Separately in southern Uruzgan province, Taliban militants attacked a U.S. military base Saturday evening for the third time this week in what the U.S.-led coalition said might be a rehearsal for a future attempt to overrun the outpost.

"Several" suspected Taliban were killed Saturday evening in the latest attack on Firebase Anaconda, in addition to four that were killed in an earlier attack on the base Saturday, the coalition said.

Rare frontal attack
Insurgents first attacked the base in a rare frontal attack on Tuesday. The military had said that 23 were killed in that incident but late Saturday officials raised the number believed killed to 50. Taliban militants usually shun head-on fights, preferring instead to attack foreign forces with suicide blasts and roadside bombs.

Coalition spokeswoman Army Capt. Vanessa R. Bowman said the Taliban attacks are expected "to culminate with a large full-scale attack in the near future."

In Helmand province, Afghan army and NATO forces clashed with Taliban militants on Saturday, and the ensuing battle and airstrikes left seven Taliban dead, said Eizatullah Khan, chief of Sangin district.

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