KABUL (Reuters) - An improvised explosive device (IED) killed four U.S.-led coalition soldiers on Saturday in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the scene of a large anti-Taliban offensive and an insurgent jail break.
Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the blast, aU.S. military statement said, without giving further details.
The Taliban have upped pressure on Kandahar in the past twoweeks, freeing at least 300 of their comrades in the jailbreak, then occupying areas outside the town, forcing Afghanand foreign troops to launch a large offensive to clear themout.
In another incident, an IED killed a Polish soldier fromthe NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) andwounded four more on Saturday in the southeastern province ofPaktika, the Polish news agency PAP said.
A suspected Taliban rocket also hit a hospital in thenortheastern town of Asadabad close to the Pakistan border,killing one man and wounding another man and a woman,provincial Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi told Reuters.
He said the rocket appeared to have been fired from acrossthe border inside Pakistan. Afghan officials often accusePakistan of aiding Taliban and al Qaeda militants who launchcross-border attacks into Afghanistan, charges Pakistan denies.
The Taliban have vowed to step up their campaign of suicideand roadside bombings this year to weaken the pro-WesternAfghan government and wear down Western support for thecontinued presence of international troops inside the country.
While Afghan and international forces are able to fight offany conventional Taliban attack, combating suicide and roadsideimprovised explosive devices is proving more of a challenge asit depends on good policing and intelligence work.
As well as about 50,000 ISAF troops there are some 14,000mainly American soldiers who are part of the U.S.-led coalitionin Afghanistan, mainly involved in anti-terrorism operationsand training Afghan security forces.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, coalition forces launchedairstrikes targeting a Taliban commander and a group ofmilitants in eastern Khost province, bordering Pakistan.
Coalition troops also killed several militants and detainedthree more in the northeastern province of Kapisa, the U.S.military said on Saturday.
One coalition soldier was also killed and two wounded inthe western Afghan province of Farah on Friday.
Afghan security forces, backed by coalition troops, killedseveral militants they had observed trying to plant a roadsidebomb in the southern province of Helmand on Thursday, the U.S.military said on Saturday.
(Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Alison Williams)
