Troops killed in Afghan suicide blast

Such attacks were up 25 percent in the first four months of 2009 compared with the same period last year.

The 22-year old Najibullah was riding a motorbike on a tree-lined village road just outside the bazaar in Pul-e-Sayad when he saw the suicide attacker in a white Toyota Corolla vehicle speeding in the opposite direction.

"He was young, bearded men, wearing a white cap," Najibullah said.

"He slowed down, looked at me, and motioned with his hand at told me to get away fast."

The bomber did the same to the passengers of a rickshaw riding behind Najibullah.

At that moment Najibullah also heard the roaring engines of military vehicles coming from behind.

And than the explosion happened.

His bike shook violently but Najibullah did not fall off. Shocked, he stopped to see what had taken place.

"I turned my head only to see fire and dust," Najibullah said. As the dust settled, he saw American soldiers running outside. Some lay on the ground.

Three US troops died in the blast, said Technical Sergeant Chuck Marsh, a US military spokesman. Another was wounded.

The troops served with NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Three civilians also died and two others were wounded, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Such attacks are quite common across Afghanistan. Taliban and other insurgent groups regularly use suicide and roadside bombs in assaults on foreign and Afghan troops.

According to military figures, 172 coalition forces were killed in such attacks last year - and far more Afghan civilians died.

As the conflict intensifies elsewhere in the country, US troops called in air strikes on groups of insurgents in the eastern Logar province yesterday, killing 13 insurgents, the US military statement said.

Separately, in the eastern Khost province, a convoy of Afghan and American troops killed the driver of a car when the vehicle did not slow down in response to shouts to stop and warning shots, said Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, a US forces spokesman.

In the south, US forces said they killed eight Taliban fighters in a clash in Uruzgan province on Monday. The troops were on patrol when Taliban fighters attacked with small-arms fire and heavy machine-guns.

The coalition said two of its troops and three Afghan policemen were wounded, and that they were in stable condition.