Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption US forces serving with Nato have been training Afghan forces since combat operations ended in 2014

Three US service members have been killed and three others wounded in an explosion near Ghazni in Afghanistan.

A US civilian contractor was also hurt by the improvised explosive device, the Nato-led mission said in a statement.

Officials would not give further detail until next of kin were notified, saying only that the injured were evacuated and receiving medical treatment.

Taliban militants said they carried out the attack, their latest near the strategic city south of the capital.

On Saturday, a US soldier was killed in Nimroz province in what appeared to be an accidental shooting, the Nato-led mission also announced on Tuesday.

On 3 November, Utah mayor Brent Taylor was killed in an apparent insider attack while serving with the US Army National Guard to train Afghan security forces.

Earlier this month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said more than 28,000 Afghan police and soldiers had been killed since 2015.

For the past year, US and Afghan officials had withheld such information as it was deemed too sensitive, reported the New York Times.

In October, a local police chief was killed when a bodyguard opened fire on a group of US and Afghan officials in the southern Kandahar province.

US General Scott Miller escaped unhurt in that attack, which was later claimed by the Taliban.

A total of 13 US troops have been killed this year in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Post publication.

Why are US troops in Afghanistan?

American-led combat operations against the Taliban officially ended in 2014, but some US troops remain in the country to provide training and assistance to Afghan forces, which do most of the fighting.

The Taliban's power and reach has surged since then - and the number of security personnel being killed has soared.

Last year, US President Donald Trump signalled he would keep US boots on the ground indefinitely amid concerns that the Taliban was gaining ground.

The US forces are part of the Nato-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, which has more than 16,000 personnel.</s>A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, in what appeared to be the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in the last 17 months.

The military said that three other service members were wounded when the bomb went off near the city of Ghazni. An American contractor was also wounded, it said. The military did not immediately identify any of the casualties.

Lt. Ubon Mendie, a military spokesman, said the wounded were evacuated and are receiving medical care.

The Taliban claimed the attack, saying a U.S. tank was completely destroyed.

It appeared to be the deadliest attack on American forces since June 2017, when an Afghan army soldier shot and killed three U.S. soldiers in an insider attack in the Achin district of the eastern Nangarhar province. The Taliban claimed that attack.

The Taliban carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan forces, and in August the insurgents overran parts of Ghazni, leading to days of intense fighting before they were driven out. Ghazni was the only one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces where parliamentary elections could not be held in October. Voting there has been postponed for a year.

The U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations. Some 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, the Taliban abducted 21 passengers from two vans that were traveling through the northern Sari Pul province, according to Habibullah Mujahidzada, a district police chief. It was not immediately clear what motivated the abduction, and there was no immediate comment from the Taliban.</s>Three US troops killed, four Americans wounded by IED in Afghanistan

Three U.S. troops were killed and four Americans were wounded Tuesday when an improvised explosive device detonated near the city of Ghazni, south of Kabul, the U.S.-led coalition said. The wounded, which included three troops and one contractor, were evacuated and are receiving medical care.

The names of the slain troops were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, according to Pentagon policy.

The deaths bring to 13 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghansitan this year.

This story will be updated.</s>ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (APP):Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday strongly condemned the IED attack on the Resolute Support Mission Servicemen in Ghazni, Afghanistan, resulting in killing and injury to the US service members.</s>Three US soldiers were killed and three wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan on Tuesday, Nato said, with the attack claimed by the Taliban as the US tries to ratchet up efforts to engage the militants in peace talks.

Nato's Resolute Support mission would not immediately release any details about the identity of the soldiers, whose deaths took the number of American service personnel to die in the war-torn country this year to 12.

A Nato statement said they had been killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near Ghazni city in central Afghanistan.

An American contractor was also wounded, it said, adding that the four injured in the blast were receiving medical care.

The casualties come just days after another US soldier was killed in Afghanistan's Nimroz province on Saturday.

An initial review showed the soldier was “likely accidentally shot by our Afghan partner force”, a Nato statement said on Tuesday, adding that the “tragic” incident occurred as they engaged in a battle with Al Qaeda militants.

“There are no indications he was shot intentionally,” the statement added, naming the soldier as Sgt Jasso without giving a first name.

General Scott Miller, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, said Jasso was killed “defending our nation, fighting Al Qaeda alongside our Afghan partners”.

Jasso's death follows a spate of so-called “insider attacks” that have rattled foreign troops tasked with training and assisting Afghanistan's military.

More than 2,200 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime from power.

Washington is trying to find a way out of the conflict more than 17 years since it began.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is spearheading efforts to strike a peace deal with the Taliban before Afghanistan's presidential election, scheduled for April next year though officials have said it could be postponed until July.

A Taliban delegation met with Khalilzad in Doha in October and November to discuss ending the Afghan conflict. Khalilzad has said he is “cautiously optimistic” for an end to the conflict.

The number of American casualties has fallen dramatically since the end of 2014 when Afghan forces took over from US-led Nato combat troops to secure the country.

Since the start of 2015, 58 Americans have been killed, President Ashraf Ghani said earlier this month. In the same time period, nearly 30,000 Afghan police and soldiers have died, Ghani said — a figure much higher than any previously acknowledged, as the Taliban step up their attacks on local forces.

The shocking mortality rate, which some experts warn is unsustainable, has sent already shaky morale to new lows.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has strongly condemned the IED attack on the RSM servicemen in Ghazni, Afghanistan, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Pakistan condemns terrorism," the statement asserted adding that "Pakistan stands in solidarity with the US government and its people in this hour of grief."</s>US forces in Afghanistan say three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — US forces in Afghanistan say three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — US forces in Afghanistan say three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province.</s>By The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — US forces in Afghanistan say three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — US forces in Afghanistan say three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Three US service members were killed Tuesday by an improvised explosive device near the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan, the US military announced.

Three service members and an American contractor were also wounded in the blast, the military said.

The names of those killed were not immediately disclosed pending the notification of next of kin.</s>KABUL: Three US service members were killed and three wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on Tuesday (Nov 26) near the central Afghan city of Ghazni, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

The Taliban, which control large parts of Ghazni province, claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded an American civilian contractor.

The NATO statement gave no details but Mohammad Arif Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said an armoured vehicle carrying US troops hit a large roadside bomb in Shahbaz area, just outside the city on Tuesday morning.

He said US Special Forces had been conducting operations with Afghan forces around Ghazni city since Monday.

The deaths are the latest in a growing toll on US forces in Afghanistan following the death of an army Ranger during an operation against al Qaeda militants in Nimruz province on Saturday. Resolute Support said the soldier had been accidentally shot by a member of Afghan partner forces.

At least 11 US service members have now died in Afghanistan this year, in combat or in so-called "insider attacks" by Afghan soldiers or police.

Four Czech soldiers, serving with Resolute Support, have also been killed.

There was no official confirmation of the circumstances of the blast but Ghazni has been one of the most heavily fought over regions of Afghanistan this year and many areas close to the city are in the hands of the Taliban.

The city, which sits on the main highway linking the capital Kabul with Kandahar in the south, was overrun this year by a large Taliban force before it was driven off by Afghan and U.S. troops after days of heavy fighting.

About 14,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan as part of Resolute Support and a separate counter-terrorism mission aimed against militant groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Three U.S. troops are killed and three others are wounded in an IED blast near Ghazni, Afghanistan.