AFGHANISTAN-Five U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb less than a week after the tragic shoot-down of an American chopper and a day after news was released of the death of the man responsible.

The Pentagon confirms that the incident took place in southern Afghanistan and that the soldiers were American, this came after a release by NATO saying that five foreign nationals had been involved.

Also in southern Afghanistan, five Afghan police officers have been killed by insurgents as Taliban militants attacked a Helmand Province checkpoint late yesterday.

The violence and casualty levels still remain high in this country and this year looks as if the coalition troop death toll will exceed that of last year, which stands at 711.

Taliban officials also have stated today that the man responsible for the helicopter downing last week is alive and well, they said the fighter is “busy conducting jihad elsewhere.” There is not confirmation of the validity of that statement. U.S. Military intelligence says that they have a high degree of confidence that they did kill the insurgent that fired on the chopper, but would provide no additional details.