5 Afghan police, NATO serviceman killed by roadside blasts in Afghanistan

5 Afghan police, NATO serviceman die in blasts

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Afghan police and a NATO serviceman died Saturday in separate roadside bomb blasts in Afghanistan, which has seen an uptick in violence in recent weeks.

Provincial Police Chief Sher Mohammed Zazai said the policemen were riding in a vehicle that struck a bomb in the Khakrez district of Kandahar province. International forces are ramping up security to bolster the government and curb criminal and insurgent activity in the province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.

On Wednesday, 56 people were killed and 24 others were wounded when a 13-year-old boy detonated his vest of explosives at a wedding celebration in a village near Kandahar, Zazai said.

NATO said the serviceman died in eastern Saturday in a roadside bomb blast, but did not provide further details of the incident or disclose the victim’s nationality. So far this month, 36 American and coalition troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

On Friday, militants killed four Afghan construction workers as they were returning home from work. The Ministry of Interior said the workers were shot in Mata Khan district of Paktika province. Their bodies were recovered Friday by policemen who were patrolling the area.

Separately, more than three dozen school girls were treated after becoming ill from suspected poisoning at their high school in Ghazni province, also in eastern Afghanistan.

“More then 40 girls were poisoned inside their school. They are hospitalized, but none of them have life-threatening conditions,” said Mohammad Ismail Ibrahamzia, director of the hospital in Ghazni city.

He said the girls were vomiting and could not stand on their feet when they arrived at the hospital, but they were in stable condition after treatment.

There have been similar cases of illnesses at schools around Afghanistan. Some suspect militants are spraying schools with poison gas because they oppose education for girls.