KABUL — A suicide bomber riding a donkey killed three NATO troops on Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The New York Times reported later that the three were U.S. servicemembers.

An ISAF news release said only that three ISAF troops were killed in by an improvised explosive device, and ISAF officials could not provide further details on the incident.

But Attaullah Khogyani, spokesperson for the governor of Wardak province, said the three soldiers died there.

Khogyani said ISAF troops were accompanying an Afghan army unit on a foot patrol in the village of Sultankhail when a suicide bomber rode toward them on a donkey and detonated his explosives. In addition to the three dead, four Afghan soldiers were injured, Khogyani said.

The spokesman did not specify the nationality of the ISAF troops killed, but ISAF troops operating in Wardak province are primarily Americans.

Afghan security forces have borne the brunt of the fighting this year, and have suffered most casualties. On Monday, the Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,700 policemen had been killed or injured since March 21.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

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