Motorcycle bomb kills 2, wounds 15 in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A motorcycle bomb killed an Afghan soldier and a civilian Wednesday and wounded 15 other people in southern Afghanistan, officials said, according to The Associated Press.

The blast was near a market in Helmand province's heavily contested Sangin district, local police chief Ghulam Ali said, adding that three soldiers, one local police officer and 11 civilians were among the wounded.

Helmand government spokesman Omar Zwak said the explosives in a parked motorcycle were remotely detonated as an army and police patrol passed by.

Taliban insurgents and other militants have unleashed a fierce wave of attacks on Afghan security forces and government targets in recent weeks. The offensive has pushed violence to some of the highest levels of the 12-year war as Afghan forces take over most security responsibility from international troops set to withdraw next year.

Militants in eastern Afghanistan attacked a NATO convoy carrying supplies on Tuesday night, killing two Afghan police officers and two truck drivers, provincial deputy police chief Asadullah Insafi said.

Three insurgents were also killed in the attack in the eastern province of Ghazni, Insafi said.