Kabul - A woman and a child were killed in a rocket attack in eastern Afghanistan, while two Afghan private security guards and five suspected Taliban militants were killed elsewhere in the country, officials said Monday.

The woman, 55, and a 14-year-old boy were killed when a rocket fired allegedly by Taliban fighters hit their house in Khost city Sunday, Khost province police chief General Abdul Qayoum said.

Qayoum said two other children were wounded in the rocket attack that he blamed on Taliban militants.

Meanwhile, two security guards working for a private security firm were killed and three others were wounded by a roadside bomb in Spery district of Khost province, provincial governor Arsala Jamal said.

He blamed "enemies of Afghanistan" for the blast that ripped through the company's vehicle.

US-led coalition forces claimed to have killed five suspected Taliban militants in Andar district of southern Ghazni province on Sunday.

The combined forces targeted "a known Taliban militant" who was believed to have been in contact with foreign fighters linked to terrorist activities in the region, and was among those killed, a US military statement said.

Separately, four Afghan army troops were wounded in a roadside attack Sunday in Lashkargah, the capital of southern Helmand province, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Taliban fighters are relying heavily on the use of roadside bombs and suicide attacks against the government and some 70,000 international troops stationed in the country.

More than 4,000 people - mostly insurgents - have been killed in the Afghanistan conflict so far this year. (dpa)