Seven dead in Afghan suicide attack

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Four soldiers with the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan were killed Monday when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into their convoy, officials said.

The attack in the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan also killed three Afghans and wounded four other soldiers and several Afghans, officials said.

Two of the soldiers killed were Danes, a Danish military spokesman told CNN. The other soldier was from the Czech Republic, that country's defense ministry said. The nationality of the ISAF employee who died was not immediately available.

The soldiers were part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), an alliance of about 40 nations charged with supporting the Afghan government in maintaining security. Most of the troops stationed in Helmand as part of the force are British.

Erik Boettger, the Danish military spokesman, said the convoy was on its way to monitor a school project when it was struck by the bomber's vehicle.

Separately, another soldier with the NATO-led alliance was killed in an attack in Zangabad on Sunday. The Canadian soldier was on foot patrol when he was killed in an explosion, ISAF said. Zangabad is a village southwest of Kandahar city.

In recent months, attacks have shot up against coalition and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan. Helmand, Afghanistan's top poppy-producing region, is among several provinces in southern Afghanistan where foreign troops continue to battle a resurgent Taliban.

U.S. troops are in their sixth year in Afghanistan battling the Taliban, the Islamic militia that once ruled most of Afghanistan, and its al Qaeda allies. E-mail to a friend

Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report.

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