A suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of US contract workers and military personnel in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul today, killing at least four civilians, officials said. A soldier opened fire on the crowd after the attack, killing one civilian.

A roadside bomb exploded next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan today, killing five policemen, an official said.

One Nato soldier and about 57 insurgents were killed in four separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, officials said today.

A ROADSIDE blast ripped through a pickup truck in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 14 villagers who were travelling to a provincial capital for holiday celebrations, an official said.

Nato's Secretary-General today said he is saddened by recent deaths of Afghan civilians, and that the alliance is committed to defending democracy in a nation once ruled by the repressive Taliban regime.

A roadside blast ripped through a vehicle in southern Afghanistan today, killing 14 villagers and wounding three as they travelled to a provincial capital for holiday celebrations, an official said.

An Afghan government inquiry found that a US-led coalition bombing in southern Uruzgan province last week killed 10 civilians and wounded 27, an official said.

Coalition and Afghan forces today killed an estimated 30 extremists in a raid on a hide-out in southern Afghanistan, the military said.

More than 80 Taliban militants have been killed in a series of attacks this week by Afghan and coalition forces, the military said.

Afghan and coalition forces killed about 82 militants in multiple assaults across southern Afghanistan, the military said Saturday.

AFGHAN and coalition troops, pushing ahead with their largest offensive since the ousting of the Taliban five years ago, have killed about 85 suspected insurgents in targeted attacks over the past few days in southern Afghanistan.

Suspected Taliban fighters attacked an Afghan army convoy in a southern province, sparking three hours of fighting that killed 13 militants, an Afghan general said today.

Fighting in rugged southern Afghan mountains killed at least 24 militants and five Afghan forces yesterday, while the US military acknowledged that the Taliban have grown in “strength and influence” in recent weeks.

Sixty Taliban militants and four Afghan soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan that also involved coalition airstrikes, an Afghan army general said today.

Gun battles, mine blasts and US air strikes on the day of Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban election left 38 people dead today, including three police officers escorting freshly filled ballot boxes, Afghan officials said.

Warplanes pounded dozens of insurgents holed up in caves in southern Afghanistan following a gun battle between the militants and US troops.

One US Marine was killed in an overnight attack on American forces in southern Afghanistan, the military said today.