By KUNA,
Kabul : Two separate blasts killed three Afghan children and five Taliban militants in Afghanistan, police and NATO sources said on Saturday.
A statement from NATO headquarters here said three children died in an explosion in Pashtunkot district of the country’s western Fariab province.
Initial investigation by the Afghan National Police and the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Faryab province showed the cause of the explosion was an unexploded ordnance, which was lying on the ground, said the NATO statement.
“We offer condolences to the families of these children,” said Brigadier General Carlos Branco, ISAF spokesperson. In Musa Qala district of the southern Helmand province, police said five Taliban were killed in an explosion.
The militants were trying to plant a bomb to target Afghan or foreign troops, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal.
He said four policemen were injured when militants attacked their patrol in the same district.
Police retaliated and the fighting continued for nearly an hour.
The militants later fled the scene while police arrested two of them, said the police chief.
Afghanistan’s Helmand province is considered the strongest base of Taliban. The district of Musa Qala in Helmand was under the control of Taliban for nearly 10 months.
The militants were forced out of the district in October last year as a result of joint assault launched by NATO troops and Afghan military and police.