Troops kill several militants in eastern Afghanistan raid

Kabul: US-led coalition troops killed several militants during a raid in eastern Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in the south wounded five people, including three policemen, officials said on Monday.

The coalition troops killed the militants during a raid on Monday on several compounds in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, a coalition statement said.

During the raid troops also detained a militant suspected of involvement in helping foreign fighters and conducting bomb attacks in the region, the statement said.

The coalition did not provide the exact numbers of militants killed.

Over 1,200 people - mostly militants - have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to a report.

In southern Afghanistan, which is the centre of the Taliban-led insurgency, a bomb placed on a bicycle just outside the city of Kandahar hit a car carrying policemen yesterday, wounding three officers and two women, said provincial police official Mohammad Shoaib. The officers worked at a police training academy, Shoaib said. Insurgents often target police, who are more vulnerable and exposed than the better-trained and equipped Afghan national army.