Afghan blast kills 3 Czech soldiers

Pak road crash claims 18

KABUL, Aug 5, (Agencies): A suicide bombing claimed by the Taleban killed three Czech soldiers on patrol in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the deadliest assault on NATO troops for many months.

“Three Resolute Support service members were killed by a suicide bomber during a combined, dismounted patrol with Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan,” NATO’s Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

In Prague, the military said the dead soldiers were Czech.

A US member of the patrol and two Afghan soldiers were wounded, NATO added.

The attack by a lone bomber on foot happened at 6am in the city of Charikar in Parwan province 60 kms (37 miles) north of Kabul, said provincial governor’s spokesman Wahida Shahkar.

The Taleban in a statement claimed responsibility, saying they killed or wounded eight American soldiers in a “tactical explosion”.

The Czech army said in a statement that three of its soldiers, a staff sergeant and two corporals, were killed in the explosion.

“The tragic death of our three soldiers has struck me deeply, and I wish to express my deepest condolences to their families,” said Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar.

Thirteen Czech soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan.

The NATO force largely ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 and pulled out the bulk of its troops. A 16,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.

Metnar

Pakistan road crash kills 18:

A collision between a passenger bus and an oil tanker killed at least 18 people and wounded 25 others in northwestern Pakistan, police said on Sunday.

The bus was heading to the southern port city of Karachi with about 48 passengers when it collided with the truck near the city of Kohat Saturday, police official Ijaz Khan told AFP.

2 Romanian men held:

Two Romanian nationals were arrested in New Delhi on Saturday on suspicion of hacking into the accounts of more than 300 ATM users across India, police said.

The men are believed to have stolen about three million rupees ($44,000) from ATMs in the eastern city of Kolkata alone and the total amount could be higher, said Praveen Tripathy, joint commissioner of police in the city’s detective department.