Three Americans killed in roadside bomb explosions in Afghanistan

Kabul - Three Americans - two soldiers and a civilian - were killed in two roadside bombs in Afghanistan, the alliance said on Saturday. One NATO-led US soldier was killed in a homemade roadside bomb in the volatile southern region on Friday, the NATO-led military said in a statement. A soldier and a civilian contractor were killed in a similar attack in the east of the country, it said, but did not provided more details about the incidents, which took place in the regions where Taliban are most active. A total of 470 foreign troops, with more than half of them US soldiers, have been killed in Afghanistan so far in 2009 according to iCasualties.org, a independent website that tracks down military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan. That makes 2009 the deadliest year yet for the more than 100,000 international forces in war-torn country. Meanwhile, NATO said in a stement that its forces killed several militants, including an armed woman, during a search operation against suspected militants in Shindand district of western province of Herat on Saturday. The forces return fired and killed the militants after they came under small arms fire during the search of several compounds in the area, it said. However, a senior police official in the province said that local villagers in Shindand reported that up to ten civilians, including women and children were killed in the predawn attack. The official, who did not want to be named, said that a team would be sent to the area to launch an investigation into the incident. Civilian casualties have become a delicate issue in Afghanistan. The mounting civilian deaths at the hands of NATO forces have strained the relations between Afghan government and its international military allies in the country.