KABUL, Afghanistan, August 29, SPA -- U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed more than 100 suspected Taliban insurgents,and a suicide bomber blew himself next to an army patrol,killing two Afghan soldiers and four civilians, officialssaid. The insurgents were killed Tuesday in Kandahar province insouthern Afghanistan after the joint force was ambushed bya large group of militants who tried to overrun theirposition, said a statement from the coalition. The force called in airstrikes, which killed more than 100suspected insurgents, the coalition said late Tuesday. Thecasualty figures could not be independently verifiedbecause of the remoteness of the area. «Coalition aircraft destroyed the reinforced enemyemplacements and sniper positions, as well as two trucksused to reinforce and resupply the insurgent force,» thestatement said. The clash left one Afghan soldier dead and three wounded. Three coalition soldiers were also wounded, it said. Thenationality of the coalition soldiers was not disclosed,but the vast majority of foreign troops in the area areAmerican. Violence is soaring in Afghanistan. This year more than3,900 people _ most of them militants _ have died,according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figuresprovided by Western and Afghan officials. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to anAfghan army patrol in a market in Paktika province, killingtwo soldiers and four shoppers, said Ghamai Khan, aspokesman for the local governor. Ten other people werewounded. On Tuesday, U.S.-led and Afghan troops raided a house nearKandahar city, killing two suspected militants anddetaining five others, a coalition statement said. In the Taliban-held Musa Qala district of Helmandprovince, militants ambushed a joint U.S.-Afghan forceMonday, another coalition statement said. The joint force fought back, targeting militants who wereusing several compounds and trenches for cover, it said. About a dozen militants were killed in the clash.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/478355