Afghan Blast Kills 7 US Troops

Nine NATO service members were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, including seven US troops and another NATO service member killed when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot, officials said. Two Afghan policemen also died and two others were wounded in the explosion in the mountainous Shorabak district of Kandahar province, 12 miles from Pakistan, said the chief of the Afghan border police in the province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.

One additional NATO service member was killed Thursday when a helicopter crashed in the east, making it the deadliest day for coalition forces in Afghanistan since April 27, when an Afghan military pilot opened fire at Kabul airport and killed eight US troops and an American civilian contractor. Thursday's blast was the worst single attack against NATO forces by one of the Taliban's crude, homemade bombs since October 2009. (More Afghanistan war stories.)