2 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Insurgents in eastern Afghanistan killed two NATO soldiers on Saturday, while a suicide bomb attack by a fake beggar inside a regional prosecutor's office killed five people, officials said.

NATO did not disclose the dead soldiers' nationality or the exact location of the attack. Most of the troops placed in the east are American.

The suicide bomber penetrated the prosecutor's office Saturday and detonated explosives killing six people, including a government attorney. The attack occurred in Zaranj, capital of the southwestern province of Nimroz, said police Chief Mohammad Ayub Badakhshi.

The bomber entered the compound pretending to be a beggar, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, the provincial governor.

Elsewhere in Nimroz, Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint, killing two police, Azad said. He said seven Taliban fighters also were killed in the exchange.

Taliban militants have increased the pace of attacks in Afghanistan this year. More than 4,000 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Please check back for more details on this developing story.

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