Afghanistan roadside explosions kill 27

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Rising violence in Afghanistan in the run up to the Aug. 20 presidential election took a big toll Thursday with 27 people killed, including a U.S. soldier.

A roadside bomb went off in the Sangin district in the country's southern Helmand province, killing 21 people, including women and children, and wounding five others, CNN reported quoting Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi.

Helmand is Afghanistan's main opium producing center and money from the sale of the narcotic has become the main source of finance for the militant Taliban. U.S. and British troops, aided by Afghan forces, have launched an expanded campaign in recent weeks to regain control of the region.

Also in Helmand Thursday, a roadside bomb destroyed an Afghan National Police vehicle, killing five and injuring three more, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

"It was at 08:15 a.m. local time today, when a mine exploded in Nad Ali district of Helmand province killing five police with ANP and wounding three others," an Interior Ministry statement said.

The NATO command said a U.S. soldier died in western Afghanistan when a patrol hit a hidden bomb, CNN reported. The death brought to seven the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this month, the report said.

The Taliban has asked Afghans to boycott the presidential elections and have intensified their violence to drive home their message.

The violence comes as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the new secretary general of NATO, arrived in Afghanistan to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal among others.