KANDAHAR: A roadside bomb struck a US convoy and killed four American troops in southern Afghanistan yesterday, while a motorcycle bomb in a crowded village market in a neighboring province killed at least three people, officials said.

The blast that hit the American convoy took place in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, said NATO spokesman Col. Thomas Collins. Kandahar is the spiritual heartland of the Taleban, and one of the most volatile regions in Afghanistan.

Several service members were also wounded, although the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. The attack follows a truck bombing a day earlier on a NATO outpost in Helmand province that killed three Georgian soldiers. So far this year, 58 international service troops have been killed in Afghanistan, according. Of those, 44 are US service members.

Earlier Tuesday, a bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle ripped through a packed market in the village of Safar in Helmand, according to Omer Zawak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. Three people were killed and seven were wounded in the blast, he said, warning that the toll could rise.

Four children were among the wounded, two critically, police spokesman Shah Mahmood Hashna said. In the northern province of Kapisa, a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a US Special Operation Forces convoy as it was returning to base after clearing land mines, according to NATO spokesman, Maj. Bryan Woods. He said there were no casualties in the attack. However, Qais Qadri, spokesman for the Kapisa governor, said one civilian was killed.

UK outlines plans

Some British troops will be serving longer tours of duty as the UK prepares to end its combat role in Afghanistan, Britain’s defense secretary said yesterday.

Philip Hammond told lawmakers that Britain’s combat role will still close by the end of 2014, but that a brigade deploying in Afghanistan in October will serve eight-month tours. A subsequent brigade could serve a final tour of up to nine months.

Most tours are for six months, but that has been “judged not to be sustainable during the final months of the drawdown,” the defense secretary said. The arrangements — which could affect up to 3,700 troops — will help maintain continuity during the drawdown and the handing over of security responsibilities to Afghan forces.