Nato losses rise in Afghanistan

Three more Nato soldiers have died in Afghanistan, bringing to 13 the number of Western troops killed there in clashes with the Taliban since Monday.

Two of the latest casualties were Americans, killed in a bomb explosion.

The other was a British soldier who died in a gun battle with insurgents in the southern province of Helmand.

On Monday, 10 soldiers, including seven Americans, died in separate incidents in one of the deadliest days for the Nato-led security force this year.

The militants are fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai.

The deaths come as the last of 35,000 extra troops ordered by US President Barack Obama arrive in the country.

They are preparing for a major operation in the southern province of Kandahar - the heart of the Taliban insurgency - later this summer.

Nato troops first fought in Afghanistan shortly after the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The attacks were blamed on al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. He was being sheltered by the Taliban who ruled Afghanistan at the time.