Kabul, - Three Afghan soldiers and two civilians were killed Monday and more than two dozen people were injured in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Three Afghan National Army soldiers were killed and five wounded in a suicide attack by a motorcyclist against a military convoy in southern Kandahar province Monday morning, an official said.

The soldiers were on a routine patrol to check newly constructed bridges on the Kandahar-Herat Highway in the Sanzari area of Zherai district early Monday morning when the suicide attack occurred, the district chief Niaz Muhammad Sarhadi told German Press Agency dpa.

Two women were also wounded in the attack and taken to Kandahar Civil Hospital for treatment, he added. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

He said more than six foreign and 15 Afghan soldiers were killed by a Taliban suicide attacker named Rahmatullah.

An explosion inside an arms' depot in the eastern province of Nangarhar killed two civilians and wounded 20 people Monday morning, local officials said.

The explosion took place at 5:30 am in the Farm-i-Hadda area south of Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

It is not known yet what caused the explosion.

The provincial Public Health deputy director said two local residents including a child were killed in the blast. Two of the injured were Afghan army soldiers and 18 residents of Hadda farm.

Health worker Dr Baaz Muhammad, who visited the site, told dpa that 10 of the injured men were discharged after receiving first aid, while three others were still undergoing treatment at the hospital are in a critical condition.(dpa)