Blast kills six Afghan soldiers

Two soldiers were killed and four wounded in the first blast in the troubled Peche Valley of Nuristan province.

Two separate bomb blasts by suspected Taliban rebels killed six Afghan soldiers and wounded eight others in volatile northeastern Afghanistan early Friday, the defence ministry said.

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Two soldiers were killed and four wounded in the first blast in the troubled Peche Valley of Nuristan province, spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said.

A convoy sent to their aid struck another mine and four more soldiers were killed and four hurt, Azimi said.

"In both attacks six Afghan soldiers were martyred and eight wounded," he told the agency.

It was not clear if the explosions were caused by landmines or remote-controlled bombs, he said.

Azimi blamed the attacks on the "enemies of Afghanistan", a catchphrase that usually refers to remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and their Al-Qaeda allies who have mounted a guerrilla-like insurgency against the new government.

Afghan security forces and the nearly 30,000 foreign troops trying to help them maintain order are among the main targets of insurgency-linked violence, blamed for the deaths of about 1,700 people last year, many of them militants.