Kabul - Five foreign soldiers, including three US servicemen, and four Afghan army troops were killed in bomb blasts and small arms fire in southern and eastern Afghanistan, Afghan defence ministry and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said Sunday.
The latest fatalities among NATO troops took the death toll for the international forces over the weekend to nine, including six US soldiers.
In the latest attack, three US soldiers were killed when the convoy they were travelling with was attacked by Taliban militants in eastern region on Sunday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
"Their patrol was first struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and then attacked by insurgents with small arms fire," an ISAF statement said.
ISAF also said two NATO-led soldiers were killed in twin roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the same day as three US troops were killed in roadside bombings in the same region.
A NATO-led French soldier was also killed on Saturday in a clash with insurgents in an area, north of Kabul.
The statement did not disclose the nationalities of the two NATO soldiers, citing the policy of ISAF that does not release the nationality of any casualty prior to the relevant national authority doing so.
Deaths among the US and British forces, who have thousands of troops in the restive southern region, have soared in the country this year. A total of 74 international soldiers, including 43 US military members, were killed in Afghanistan last month.
July marked the deadliest month for international forces since their deployment to the country in late 2001. Around 100,000 international troops - with two-third of them from the US - are currently stationed in Afghanistan.
Four Afghan army soldiers were also killed on Saturday in Gerishk district of Helmand province when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb, defence ministry said in a statement.
Afghan and international troops, mainly US, British and Canadian soldiers, are taking part in operations to push the militants out of areas they control and provide a safer environment for the country's scheduled August 20 presidential elections.
In northern Kunduz province, Taliban militants have returned to Char Darah district after a joint Afghan and German forces drove them away from the area, Abdul Wahid Omarkhel, the district governor told German Press Agency dpa.
"When the operation started, their leaders escaped to other areas, and the Taliban fighters just hid their weapons and disguised themselves among the local people," he said, adding that the militants came back to the area when the operation ended.
Some 300 NATO-led German troops and nearly 1,000 Afghan security forces began the operation in Kunduz province last month in order to push the militants out of the region before the polling day.
Taliban militants, who were driven from power some eight years ago, have vowed to disrupt the elections, which would be the second direct vote for an Afghan president in the history of the country.(dpa)