KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Two U.S. and seven Afghan soldiers were killed in three explosions in Afghanistan, Afghan and Western officials said.
The Los Angeles Times reported the two U.S. soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in east Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, the scene of heavy fighting.
IEDs remain the leading killer of Western soldiers, the Times noted.
Four Afghan soldiers and an officer were killed in the western province of Herat. The National Directorate for Security, the main Afghan intelligence agency, said this week it had arrested a member of the Taliban's main leadership council, Quetta Shura, in Herat. The Times said the NDS also reported the arrest of a ringleader in a plot to attack Western targets and abduct American citizens in the province, which had been one of the more peaceful areas of the country.
In the northwestern province of Badghis, two Afghan soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber who targeted an army convoy. The attack also killed two civilians -- a father and son driving nearby, the Times said.
