Afghan officials say at least eight people are dead following two bombings in the country's east.
In
Nangarhar province, police say a suicide bomber in a car blew himself
up at a police checkpoint Saturday, killing six people, including a
policeman. Officials said at least four other people were wounded.
Another
bombing in Khost province killed at least two people near a shrine as
they celebrated the Persian New Year. Authorities say the blast wounded
at least four others.
Separately, NATO says one of its soldiers was killed Friday during a "hostile incident" in the south.
The military alliance did not give details of the incident or the soldier's nationality.
The
killing came on the same day that a top NATO commander in Afghanistan
said the arrival of more U.S. troops will trigger an increase in
violence.
Dutch Major General Mart de Kruif told reporters
Friday that he expects an initial increase in insurgent attacks in the
country's south, but that security will improve by 2010.
U.S. President Barack Obama last month approved the deployment of an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile,
the Canadian military said two bomb blasts killed four of its soldiers
and an Afghan interpreter Friday in the southern province of Kandahar.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
