KANDAHAR, (Afghanistan), June 20 (AFP); A suicide attack on a military convoy killed a US-led soldier and 11 Afghans in southern Afghanistan Friday, a day after a huge operation to drive Taliban rebels from a key stronghold.
The convoy was driving through a crowded bazaar in the troubled province of Helmand when it was hit by small-arms fire and then an insurgent detonated explosives strapped to his body, officials said.
Separately, two US-led coalition troops were killed Thursday in an operation against insurgents in Helmand, the country's main opium growing area, while nine people died in clashes the western province of Farah.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the incidents, but the Taliban had vowed to launch suicide attacks to avenge this week's big offensive by NATO and Afghan troops in southern Kandahar province.
Helmand police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal said 10 Afghan civilians were killed and four were injured in the suicide blast and that it was aimed at NATO security forces, not the separate US-led coalition.
"The attacker walked up to a NATO convoy patrolling in a market in Girishk district and detonated explosives strapped to his body," the police chief told AFP.
The US-led coalition later said in a statement that "a coalition service member and a local national were killed this morning in Helmand province when their convoy was struck by a suicide bomber and small-arms fire."
The Afghan national was an interpreter, said the coalition, which did not mention civilian casualties.
The police chief blamed the attack on "enemies of Afghanistan"-a term frequently used by Afghan officials to refer to the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies.
The Taliban, who were ousted from government by US-led forces in late 2001 for failing to hand over Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks, have claimed almost all similar attacks in the past.
Meanwhile the US-led coalition, which operates alongside NATO, said one soldier was killed instantly while another died later from gunshot wounds suffered during operations in Helmand late Thursday.
It did not give their nationalities. In Farah, Afghan police forces and NATO launched an operation in Bala Buluk district overnight which left eight Taliban and one policeman dead, provincial police chief Khalilullah Rehmani told AFP. Police also arrested 20 suspects on suspicion of aiding the rebels, he said.
