In Afghanistan, four US and three Afghan soldiers were killed in a series of roadside bomb attacks and fighting with militants in different parts of the country. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement today that two US soldiers were killed in a homemade bomb blast while another soldier died of militant fire in the southern region. The fourth soldier died in another roadside bomb blast in the country's eastern region. Three Afghan soldiers were killed and two more were injured in a roadside bomb blast yesterday in Musa Qala district of the southern Helmand province. The Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement that six other Afghan soldiers were injured in a Taliban attack in the south-eastern province of Kunar. Militant groups rely heavily on the use of roadside bombs to target international and Afghan forces. Violence is on the rise in Afghanistan and there is no let up despite onset of winter which normally had less militant activity in past years.<br/>