A suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked Canadian troops handing out sweets to children in southern Afghanistan today, killing four Nato soldiers and wounding many others, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.

MILITANTS have regrouped in Afghanistan’s western provinces and ignited violence that has killed a dozen people in two days, officials warned yesterday.

As Nato troops exert pressure on Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, militants have regrouped in western provinces and ignited violence that has killed a dozen people in two days, officials said today.