Eight soldiers killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan were Americans

Eight soldiers killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan were Americans, the Pentagon confirmed.
  
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said the soldiers were killed by two successive blasts on Thursday in the same location in Shorabak district in Kandahar province.

Local border police commander Tafseer Khan Khogyani said the attack, which also killed two Afghan policemen, took place as coalition and Afghan forces were on patrol about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Pakistan border. "As they approached a container, explosives that had been placed inside went off, causing a huge explosion," he said.
  
Kandahar border police chief General Abdul Razeq said that the container was used as an ammunition store by Taliban fighters smuggling weapons across the border from Pakistan.
  
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast, which was initially announced by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).