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2 Afghan Civilians Killed in Separate Incidents


NATO officials say two Afghan civilians were killed in separate incidents in eastern and southern Afghanistan Thursday.

The officials say an Afghan civilian driving as part of a NATO convoy lost his life when his truck appeared to hit a roadside bomb in eastern Kunar province.

Later in the day, a NATO patrol shot at a vehicle in southern Kandahar province, killing one civilian and wounding three others.

NATO said the patrol acted in self-defense after the driver did not heed the soldiers' warnings to stop.

In other violence, an Afghan security official, Amanullah Khan said an airstrike near the city of Kandahar killed three suspected militants late Wednesday.

In neighboring Helmand province, the U.S.-led coalition said its troops killed several armed insurgents and detained four others during a raid on Tuesday.

A coalition statement said the soldiers were looking for a Taliban leader when insurgents fired on them and coalition troops returned fire.

Helmand has been the site of some of the fiercest fighting between coalition forces and insurgents. It is also the biggest opium producing region in the world.

Last week, a U.S.-based terrorist monitoring organization, SITE, said the Taliban had announced the beginning of a spring offensive against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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