Two cops, 3 children killed

KABUL, (AP)

A roadside bomb killed two Afghan police officers as they were destroying opium poppies in the southern province of Kandahar yesterday, while three children died from an insurgent grenade tossed during a NATO operation in the north.

The coalition said in a statement that another four women and children were wounded along with five Afghan and NATO troops in the fighting in northern Faryab province.

It said the deaths occurred when an insurgent lobbed a hand grenade into a courtyard of a compound that was being raided.

The women and children had been placed there by coalition forces for their safety. The statement added that "several" insurgents were also killed.

There was no way to independently verify the account.

The European Union said someone fired a high-velocity bullet at the office of its special representative to Afghanistan. The bullet hit the armoured office window of Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, a former Lithuanian foreign minister.