Three NATO soldiers, 20 Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Kabul - Three NATO soldiers were killed by a roadside bombs in southern and eastern Afghanistan, while Afghan and international forces killed more than 20 militants, officials said Saturday. Two NATO-led International Security Assistance Force soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in eastern region on Friday, while a US soldier was killed in similar attack in southern Afghanistan on the same day, the military alliance said in a statement. It did not disclose the nationalities of the other two soldiers. French and Polish soldiers are stationed in eastern provinces as part of more than 100,000 international troops in the country. The Afghan defence ministry said its forces backed by NATO troops killed 21 Taliban militants in separate clashes in southern and eastern provinces since Friday. The clashes took place a day after Taliban bomber targeted the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 17 Afghan people and wounding more than 60 others, including three Indian nationals guarding the fortified embassy compound. Afghan government officials in Kabul claimed that the attack was orchestrated by elements from outside the country. Afghan ambassador to the United States Said Jawad US-based television channel PBS that Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) was behind the attack. 'We are pointing the finger at the Pakistan intelligence agency, based on the evidence on the ground and similar attacks taking place in Afghanistan,' Jawad alleged in the interview, a transcript of which was sent to other media by his office in Washington. Afghan officials in the past had blamed some elements inside ISI for attacks in Afghanistan, but have refrained from such accusations since a new civilian government was formed in Pakistan. The allegations by the senior diplomat could strain relations between the two key allies of the US government.