Kabul, Dec 14 (IANS): At least five Afghan soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in Afghanistan's Helmand province Saturday, the country's defence ministry said.

"Five Afghan National Army soldiers were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Sangin district of southern Helmand province and three others injured in a separate IED blast in neighbouring Uruzgan province," Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.

Army specialists recovered and defused seven IEDs and army personnel seized over 100 kg of explosives and a handful of weapons during raids within the day across the country, it said.

Several armed Taliban insurgents were killed and wounded in various military operations Saturday, the ministry added without revealing the exact number of the casualties among the insurgents.

Casualties among Afghan soldiers and police have risen recently as the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan switched from combat to support role, namely training, advising and assisting Afghan forces.