An Afghan police chief says a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan has killed 10 civilians. Matiullah Khan says the civilians were riding in a small bus when the bomb exploded Saturday in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. In neighboring Helmand province, meanwhile, provincial police Chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal says a battle between Taliban fighters and Afghan police on Friday killed 17 militants. More than 3,500 people _ mostly militants _ have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count.
