Coalition officials say four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan Monday.
No further details were immediately available.
Separately, Britain's Defense Ministry said a British soldier was killed in an explosion in southern Helmand province Sunday.
In recent weeks, 4,000 U.S. Marines, along with British and Afghan
troops, have launched a major offensive in southern Afghanistan,
targeting Taliban insurgents in their traditional strongholds.
Meanwhile, NATO officials say a British fighter jet has crashed at the
coalition's largest base in southern Afghanistan, injuring the two
pilots.
NATO officials say the crash occurred early Monday at Kandahar air
base. Officials say the two pilots ejected from the aircraft and were
taken to the base's hospital for treatment. No one else was hurt.
The incident comes one day after a civilian helicopter crashed at the
same base, killing 16 people. There is no indication that insurgent
activity caused either crash.
It also is the fourth aircraft to go down in last few days.
In other news, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United
States is doing everything it can to find and free an American soldier
captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a briefing Monday that he
was "disgusted" at the Taliban's release of a video showing captured
Private Bowe Bergdahl. U.S. military officials have said the use of the
23-year-old soldier for propaganda purposes is against international
law.
Clinton also called the video "outrageous" and said it was, in her
words, a "real sign of desperation" on the part of the militants.
Taliban insurgents posted the 28-minute video on a Web site Saturday. Bergdahl went missing from his base on June 30th.