July 6 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1730 GMT on Monday. * denotes new or updated items. KUNDUZ - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in northern Kunduz province, a U.S. military spokesman said. Two Afghan civilians were also killed by the blast which hit a convoy of Afghan police and NATO vehicles, the Kunduz police chief said. * ZABUL - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion in southeastern Zabul, a U.S. military spokesman said. No other details were available. * PAKTIA - A U.S. soldier was killed during an engagement with insurgents in eastern Paktia province, a U.S. military spokeswoman said. The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said the soldier died as a result of injuries sustained during an attack by insurgents. HELMAND - Four family members, including three children, were killed when a rocket hit their house in the Nadi Ali district of southern Helmand province, a local spokesman said. Four other family members were wounded. It was not clear who fired the rocket, the spokesman said. HELMAND - Six Taliban fighters and four police officers were killed in a gun battle during a funeral for a slain police commander in Helmand's Musa Qala district on Sunday, the district chief said. URUZGAN - Afghan forces killed seven Taliban insurgents in a clash in southern Uruzgan province on Monday, a provincial police chief said. Two police officers were wounded. HELMAND - A British soldier was killed in an explosion near Gereshk in Helmand on Sunday during the latest phase of a major British military operation in the area, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a statement. KANDAHAR - Two Afghan truck drivers were killed when a suicide car bomber blew himself up outside Kandahar Air Field, a major foreign military base in southern Kandahar province, Afghan army General Sher Mohammad Zazai said. At least 10 were wounded, he said. GARDEZ - Sixteen Afghans working for a United Nations-sponsored demining agency who were kidnapped in Paktia on Saturday have been freed unharmed, an official for the Mine Detection and Dog Centre said. Police and local tribal chiefs were involved in securing their release. No new information was available about two Afghans working for a Dutch aid agency who were also kidnapped in neighbouring Khost province on Saturday. PAKTIA - Two Afghan soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a landmine blast in Paktia on Sunday, the Defence Ministry said. BALKH - Taliban insurgents gunned down an electoral official in northern Balkh province, police said. (Compiled by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Paul Tait)
An Afghan man prays next to a U.S soldier in a market in Sangarkhel village in the mountains of Wardak Province, Afghanistan, July 6, 2009. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (AFGHANISTAN POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY ...
