5 US Troops Killed in Wave of Afghan Attacks

Three American soldiers were killed today when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Southern Afghanistan, and two were killed yesterday, as a string of attacks took 18 lives in the country over the past two days. Earlier today a suicide bomber blew himself up in a fruit shop in Nimroz province, killing a local police commander and at least nine others.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber drove an explosive-packed car into a crowded Kandahar bazaar, killing two American soldiers and three Afghan civilians, while wounding another 21. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for that attack in a telephone interview with the New York Times.