Three NATO Soldiers, Former Government Official Killed in Southern Afghanistan

Four people have been killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan on April 23.

NATO says a roadside bomb killed two soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan.

NATO did not give the location of the attack or the nationalities of the soldiers.

A third NATO soldier died on Saturday when a helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Kapisa. NATO said the rescue operation came under fire.

The Taliban said they had shot down the helicopter and attacked the rescue operation.

A total of 135 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, according to iCasualties.org, a website that records the deaths of international troops.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of the Interior said that gunmen assassinated the former top civilian chief in the Marjah district of Helmand province, Abdul Zahir, late on April 23 in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

compiled from agency reports