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NATO confirms 3 soldiers killed in eastern Afghan blast

21 June 2012 00:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed late on Wednesday that three of its service members were killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan earlier in the day, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

A suicide bomber, ridding a motorbike, blew his explosive up near a joint Afghan forces and NATO-led ISAF patrol in Khost city, the capital of eastern Khost province Wednesday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The suicide blast, which occurred at about 12:00 p.m. local time (0730GMT), also killed 17 Afghans including 14 civilians, a translator for NATO troops and two policemen besides the bomber.

"Three International Security Assistance Force service members died as a result of an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today,"the ISAF said in a statement, without mentioning the nationalities of the victims under the ISAF policy. Some U.S. officials earlier told local media that victims were Americans.

A total of 37 other people were injured in the blast.

Militancy has been on constant rise since the Taliban launched its spring offensive on May 3 this year.

The insurgent group, which has been waging more than a decade- long insurgency, claimed of the responsibility for the attack.