Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured in two bombings in Afghanistan.

An Afghan human rights group said today that at least 88 people, including 20 women, were killed in a joint Afghan-US coalition military operation in western Afghanistan.

Afghan and foreign troops battled with Taliban militants and called in airstrikes in a series of clashes in the country’s south that left 40 insurgents dead, an official said today.

US-led and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan in ground clashes and airstrikes that left over 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

US-led coalition and Afghan troops killed up to 21 suspected Taliban militants in three separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, and a roadside blast killed four Afghan soldiers in the east.