An bomb killed four US-led coalition soldiers in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, today the scene of a large anti-Taliban offensive and an insurgent jail break.
Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the blast, a US military statement said.
The Taliban have upped pressure on Kandahar in the past two weeks, freeing at least 300 of their comrades in the jail break, then occupying areas outside the town, forcing Afghan and foreign troops to launch a large offensive to clear them out.
In another incident, an bomb killed a Polish soldier from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and wounded four more in the south-eastern province of Paktika, the Polish news agency PAP said.
A suspected Taliban rocket also hit a hospital in the northeastern town of Asadabad close to the Pakistan border, killing one man and wounding another man and a woman.
The rocket appeared to have been fired from across the border inside Pakistan. Afghan officials often accuse Pakistan of aiding Taliban and al Qaeda militants who launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, charges Pakistan denies.