At least two Afghan soldiers and one US soldier were killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan, officials said today.
"One special operations member was killed and two wounded during operations in the vicinity of Gardez, in Paktya Province, last night," US Central Command said in a brief statement that gave no more details.
Police said earlier that at least two Afghan soldiers were killed and one wounded when their vehicle was ambushed by suspected Taliban militants not far from a US base.
That attack occurred on last night about four km (2.5 miles) from the base near the town of Spin Boldak on the Pakistani border, a senior officer in the town told reporters.
"They came under heavy attack," he said. "The Taliban used rockets and heavy machineguns and killed two Afghan soldiers on the spot. The Taliban are again regrouping in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
"The officer said such attacks had grown likelier since the Taliban created a 10-member war council under its leader Mullah Omar this week to organise resistance against foreign troops.
Yesterday, President Hamid Karzai dismissed the formation of the council as meaningless. He said the Taliban posed no threat to the government, although they did have the ability to carry out "terrorist" attacks.
The whereabouts of Mullah Omar, a Muslim cleric and staunch ally of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, have not been known since US-led forces drove the Taliban from power in late 2001.