A file photo taken on December 10, 2001 shows Marines standing ready to board a waiting helicopter at Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan. – Photo by AFP

KABUL: A roadside bombing killed three Nato service members on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said.

The coalition recently shifted its focus from southern Afghanistan to the east, where militants are fighting Afghan and coalition troops along the long, porous border with Pakistan.

The exact location of the bombing was not disclosed, nor were the nationalities of the dead.

So far this year, 519 Nato service members have been killed in Afghanistan, including at least 389 Americans.

Separately, tribal elders in Logar province, also in the east, continued to negotiate with insurgents on Saturday in an effort to free eight Pakistani laborers kidnapped by militants on Thursday, said provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwesh.

He said they were kidnapped by a gunman on a motorcycle who ambushed a bus carrying the laborers to work at a hospital construction site in Pul-e-Alam, the provincial capital. The assailants took them into the woods at gunpoint.

Opinion

Editorial

Narcotic darkness
08 May, 2024

Narcotic darkness

WE have plenty of smoke with fire. Citizens, particularly parents, caught in Pakistan’s grave drug problem are on...
Saudi delegation
08 May, 2024

Saudi delegation

PLANS to bring Saudi investment to Pakistan have clearly been put on the fast track. Over the past month, Prime...
Reserved seats
Updated 08 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The truth is that the entire process — from polls, announcement of results, formation of assemblies and elections to the Senate — has been mishandled.
Impending slaughter
Updated 07 May, 2024

Impending slaughter

Seven months into the slaughter, there are no signs of hope.
Wheat investigation
07 May, 2024

Wheat investigation

THE Shehbaz Sharif government is in a sort of Catch-22 situation regarding the alleged wheat import scandal. It is...
Naila’s feat
07 May, 2024

Naila’s feat

IN an inspirational message from the base camp of Nepal’s Mount Makalu, Pakistani mountaineer Naila Kiani stressed...