U.S. soldiers shelter themselves from the rotarwash of a Chinook helicopter after being dropped off on a mountain ridge in the Baghran Valley of Helmand province, June 18, 2006

Afghan police say a bomb has exploded Monday at a university in the western city of Herat, wounding at least eight students.

The western part of the country had been generally free of violence until recent months.

In the eastern province of Khost today, officials say a suspected insurgent was killed when a bomb packed into his thermos flask exploded. One bystander was wounded.

U.S. military officials in southern Afghanistan said today a helicopter crashed Sunday shortly after leaving an air field in Kandahar, killing one serviceman and injuring another. Officials say the (AH-64 Apache) helicopter was not shot down. The accident is under investigation.

Coalition troops are engaged in the largest anti-Taleban offensive in Afghanistan since the hard-line Islamist government was forced from power in 2001.

More than 10,000 coalition and Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive that began in May.

Afghan and coalition officials say their forces killed at least 20 Taleban fighters in Helmand province on Saturday and Sunday.

Two British soldiers and their Afghan interpreter also were killed in an insurgent attack on a base in the southern province's Sangin district Sunday.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.