Bombs kill 3 U.S. soldiers

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – After the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, three American soldiers were killed Saturday in a bombing in a southern province, and a French soldier died in a separate attack north of Kabul.

The U.S. servicemen were killed when two roadside bombs exploded while they were on patrol in Kandahar province, the military said in a statement. The increased use of such powerful bombs by Taliban insurgents has been a major factor in the U.S. military’s rising death toll, which reached 43 in July, the highest level since the war began in late 2001.

A U.S. military spokeswoman in Afghanistan said no other details about the blasts would be available until the families of those killed had been notified.