Kabul: A suicide bomber killed four Afghan soldiers and a child in eastern Afghanistan today when he blew himself up as an army convoy drove past, an official said.

Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack, about 8 miles (12 kilometres) west of Khost city, said Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi.

Suicide bombers frequently target military convoys, but civilian passers-by are often killed in such attacks.

Insurgency related violence has killed more than 1,200 people mostly militants so far this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

In southern Helmand province, five Taliban insurgents died today when a mine they were planting on a highway in Musa Qala district exploded prematurely, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

Andiwal said international and Afghan forces often patrol the highway and suffer casualties due to such bombs. In eastern Kunar province, meanwhile, deputy police chief Abdul Sabor Allayer said a rocket hit a schoolyard on Wednesday in Asmor district, killing one student and wounding four others. The victims were between eight and 14 years old.

Afghanistan's Education Minister said earlier this year that the number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks spiked in the past year in a campaign to close schools and force teenage boys to join the Islamic militia. UNICEF says 236 school-related attacks occurred last year.

Source : PTI