WASHINGTON, April 15: Four US soldiers were killed and at least one was injured in Afghanistan on Monday when a rocket detonated as they were attempting to dispose it of, the US military said.

Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the death toll may rise because some soldiers still had not been accounted for.

“Four US soldiers were killed and one wounded at approximately 3am EDT near Kandahar (0700 GMT) from an accidental explosion during an ordnance disposal operation involving 107mm rockets,” the US Central Command said in a statement.

“The number may rise,” said a Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

An effort was underway to establish whether the missing were killed in the explosion or were at another location at the time of the incident. The team was in the process of removing 107mm rockets, a Soviet-era type munitions when the explosion occurred, an official said.—AFP