KABUL, Afghanistan, June 11 (UPI) -- Militants struck across southern Afghanistan Friday, killing 13 people, including two NATO soldiers, officials said.
The soldiers died in a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan but their nationalities were not immediately available, CNN said. Their deaths dealt another blow to coalition forces, which already had lost 26 soldiers, 18 them Americans, just this week.
Violence in Afghanistan has escalated sharply, taking a heavy toll, as the U.S.-led NATO forces prepare to launch their next campaign this summer in the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar in the southern part of the country.
In another incident targeting coalition forces, a suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Zabul province, wounding two soldiers, CNN reported, quoting a police official. Two civilians died in the attack and 13 others were wounded.
Separately, nine Afghans died and eight more were wounded when their passenger bus struck a roadside bomb in Kandahar, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Provincial government spokesman Zalmay Ayubi told Xinhua the attack occurred on a highway connecting Kandahar and the neighboring province of Helmand. He said those killed included four women and three children.
The official said NATO forces helped take the wounded to a hospital.
In the deadliest incident targeting Afghan civilians this week, a suicide bomber struck an Afghan wedding Wednesday in the village of Nagaan in Kandahar, killing 40 guests and wounding 74 others as they ate.
The attack reportedly was aimed at members of a local defense initiative who were attending the party. The initiative has been set up to encourage people to defend themselves against the Taliban. The dead included women and children.
