June 22, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1429

KABUL, June 21: Six foreign troops, including a Polish national, were slain in bombings in Afghanistan on Saturday, the forces said, making it the deadliest day for international soldiers in the war-torn country this year.

Four of the foreign troops serving in the US-led coalition were killed when militants attacked them with an improvised bomb and small arms fire just outside the strategic city of Kandahar on Saturday, the force said.

Another soldier serving under the same deployment died in a similar bomb explosion overnight in the southwestern province of Farah, the force said.

In another bombing, a Polish soldier in the separate Nato-led International Security Assistance Force was killed in the province of Paktika.

Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi, chief of operations for the Afghan army, said the jump in foreign military casualties was due to the recent widespread use of roadside and suicide bombings.

But Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi, chief spokesman for the Afghan army, blamed a peace deal between Islamabad and militants. “Peace talks between Pakistan and the terrorists are resulting in more attacks in Afghanistan. The high casualties are because of that,” Azimi said at a news conference with Karimi.—AFP