"Multiple" NATO casualties in Afghan suicide blast

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sep 18 (Reuters) A suicide bomb blast inflicted ''multiple casualties'' on a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan today, the alliance said.

The blast was caused by a suicide attacker in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, said NATO spokesman, Major Quentin Innis. He gave no more details.

NATO had earlier said the district had been cleared of Taliban militants in a two-week offensive that has just ended.

Residents of the area, about 25 km (15 miles) west of Kandahar city, said the patrol was delivering aid when the attacker struck.

The blast also caused civilian casualties, NATO said.

The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said yesterday NATO and Afghan government troops had forced Taliban insurgents out the district after a two-week offensive codenamed Operation Medusa.

The Taliban and their militant allies have unleashed a wave of attacks on government and foreign troops this year. Security forces have responded with a series of offensives in the south and east.

The level of violence, the most intense since the Taliban were ousted five years ago, has raised concern about the prospects for a country that had been seen as a success in the U S-led war on terrorism.

About 130 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year, most of them Americans, British and Canadians.

REUTERS PB HT1405