Bomb kills five Afghan civilians, including 4 kids

Gates says Iran support for Taliban ‘pretty limited’

KABUL: A homemade bomb killed four children and a civilian adult in northeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, NATO forces said.

Meanwhile, a NATO service member died in a bomb strike in the south. The alliance did not provide the nationality of the person who died or further details.

There were also few details on the morning explosion in northeastern Kapisa province, north of the capital of Kabul. A NATO spokesman said it was unclear where the bomb had been planted, though he did confirm that no Afghan or international military forces were in the area of the blast.

International and Afghan troops evacuated at least three other children who were wounded in the explosion to military hospitals.

Roadside bombs are the leading killer of international troops in Afghanistan, but the homemade explosives planted by insurgents often kill civilians.

At least 2,412 civilians were killed in 2009 — a 14 percent increase from 2008, according to the United Nations. Nearly 70 percent of civilian deaths last year were caused by insurgents.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says Iranian support for the Taliban in Afghanistan isn’t much of a problem for the United States — yet.

Gates says that as far as the U.S. can tell, Iran’s support for the insurgency is “pretty limited.”

Gates noted that he had a public exchange of barbs with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week over which country is doing harm in Afghanistan.

Gates was in Afghanistan for three days this week. He spoke Thursday at a military base that is home to an Air Force refueling and surveillance operation serving the war in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon asked press traveling with Gates not to name the base. - Agencies