Blast kills forces on patrol in Afghanistan
One foreign soldier and Afghan police among nine killed by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province.
At least nine people, including one foreign soldier, have been killed when an improvised explosive device exploded in the south of Afghanistan, officials say.
The blast occurred as a Afghan and NATO forces were patrolling through Arghandab district Kandahar province late on Saturday, Shah Mohammad, the district administrator, said.
The Afghan dead included three police officers, four members of the government-sponsored “local police”, and one translator, Mohammad said.
Arghandab is a farming region just outside Kandahar city. It was one of a number of communities in the region that were targeted in a 2010 sweep to oust Taliban fighters from the area.
NATO reported earlier that one of its service members was killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Saturday but did not provide additional details.
A Western security source confirmed to the AFP news agency that NATO’s report was referring to the Kandahar incident.