Militants killed in Afghan clashes

U.S.-led coalition troops killed several militants during a raid in central Afghanistan, while a suspected bomb maker and his family died in an accidental blast in the east, officials said Tuesday.

Coalition troops were fired on as they were searching compounds in Giro district of Ghazni province on Monday, a coalition statement said.

"Coalition forces responded with small-arms fire and air strikes, killing the militants and damaging a building," the statement said, without giving a specific death toll.

During the search, troops discovered bomb-making material and other weapons, it said.

Separately, a suspected bomb maker and four other people died in an accidental explosion inside a house in the eastern Kunar province, said provincial deputy police chief Abdul Sabit Allayar.

The blast in Chawki district killed the alleged bomber, his wife, two sons and a guest. Two other people were wounded, Allayar said.

More than 2,700 people - mostly militants - have died in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan and Western officials.

Insurgent attacks have risen by 50 percent so far this year compared to 2007, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, a Kabul-based group funded by Western donors that advises relief groups on security.