2 NATO service members die in eastern, southern Afghanistan; civilians killed by roadside bomb

2 NATO troops, civilians die in Afghanistan

KABUL — Afghan civilians traveling south of the capital of Kabul died Friday when their vehicle hit a large roadside bomb, police said.

“When you see the car, it is so badly destroyed,” said deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Charki said, adding that it’s still unclear how many people died in the car traveling in Charkh district of Logar province. “We found shoes, a blue burqa and one mobile phone. We are using the phone to call relatives.”

On Thursday, one service member was killed in an insurgent attack in the south, and another died from a mortar or rocket attack in the east, NATO said in a statement Friday. The international alliance did not provide details about the deaths or disclose the nationalities of the troops killed.

The deaths raise to 10 the number of NATO service members killed in Afghanistan this month.

NATO is gearing up for a summer operation in the southern city of Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban — which will be a major test of the Afghan war.

In Herat province in western Afghanistan, residents were recovering from flooding that has killed more than 60 people and damaged scores of homes, according to the international coalition.

NATO said Afghan military helicopters have delivered enough tents to shelter 300 people to the flood-damaged village of Obeh. The tents were provided by the Italian Cooperation for Development, part of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.