LOC10:14
07:14 GMT
KABUL, Dec 14 (KUNA) -- Three soldiers of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in southern
Afghanistan, the military said on Sunday.
Paying tribute to the fallen soldiers, ISAF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Richard
Blanchette said they died fighting for the better future of the people of
Afghanistan.
The spokesperson did not disclose nationalities of the soldiers and exact
location of the blast. However, officials said the blast took place in
Kandahar province where mostly Canadian soldiers are stationed as part of the
NATO's counter-insurgency mission in Afghanistan.
A provincial official told KUNA that the explosive device hit the patrol
vehicle in Arghandab district of Kandahar on Saturday.
A day before the killing of the Canadian soldiers, four British marines
were killed in a suspected suicide attack by a teen-aged boy and a landmine
blast in the neighboring province of Helmand.
Both Kandahar and Helmand provinces are located in the restive southern
zone of Afghanistan and are considered strongholds of Taliban. Canadian
soldiers are operating in Kandahar while British troops are stationed in
Helmand province.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed three Afghan policemen and injured four
more in Kandahar province on Sunday morning.
Seven civilians also sustained injuries in the blast, police officials said.
Kandahar police chief Matiullah said the explosives were planted on a
handcart in the city. It went off as the patrol vehicle of the policemen was
passing through the area.(end)
gk.wsa
KUNA 141014 Dec 08NNNN