KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Violence erupted across Afghanistan on Tuesday, with eight civilians and four police officers dying in roadside bombings and several militants killed in a coalition forces operations.
A roadside bomb struck a minibus in southwestern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, killing eight civilians and wounding one, a police official said.
The explosion occurred in the Dil Aram district of Farah province, said Abdul Mutalib Rad, spokesman for police forces in the western region.
The bomb had been planted on a road often used by Afghan police and coalition forces, Rad said.
On Sunday, a soldier with the U.S.-led coalition was killed during an operation in Farah province. On May 15, a suicide bomber wearing a burqa walked up to a police convoy in a crowded market in Farah and detonated explosives. The blast killed 16 people and wounded several others.
In Lowgar province in the east, four Afghan police officers were killed Tuesday when the police vehicle they were in was struck by a roadside bombing, according to Gen. Gholum Mustafa, provincial police chief.
Mustafa said the bomb was planted Monday night by "enemies of Afghanistan," a term often used by Afghan officials to describe the Taliban militants.
In Paktia province, also in the east, "several militants were killed and nine were detained" on Tuesday in an operation targeting "anti-government operations," the U.S.-led coalition said.
Troops searched compounds targeting a militant "known to have facilitated foreign fighter and IED attacks against the Afghan government and coalition forces." IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, are roadside bombs.
Militants from several buildings "engaged" troops, who "responded with small-arms fire and airstrikes." Troops found and destroyed weaponry such as rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s, ammunition vests, and ammunition.
The U.S.-led coalition said "several militants" were killed in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan during a coalition operation on Tuesday. Troops were targeting Taliban weapons smugglers in Helmand province.
Soldiers searched compounds and killed militants who "engaged coalition forces." Troops also found and destroyed "a cache of narcotics."
Helmand is Afghanistan's top poppy-producing region and has been a major front in the war against the Taliban.
In recent months, attacks have shot up against security forces and coalition and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan. The assaults have claimed numerous civilian lives.
Officials have blamed the Taliban -- the Islamic militia that once ruled most of Afghanistan -- and its al Qaeda allies.
The total number of terror attacks in Afghanistan increased from 969 in 2006 to 1,127 last year, according to a U.S. State Department report in April. The report said the number of people killed, injured or kidnapped as the result of terrorism rose from 3,557 in 2006 to 4,673 in 2007.
Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report
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