NATO says a senior Taliban commander and two advisers in northern Afghanistan were killed in an air strike Monday. The insurgents were driving through the desert northeast of Kunduz City when they were hit by precision air fire.

NATO says the Taliban commander was responsible for all aspects of military operations in Kunduz province.

In southern Afghanistan, police say two civilians have been killed by two explosions that went off within a minute of each other as a police convoy passed by.

Kandahar's deputy provincial police chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad said his car was the target of Monday's blasts, but he was not in the vehicle at the time. He said the blasts were caused by a roadside bomb and a motorbike packed with explosives.

Kandahar is the largest city in southern Afghanistan, and is a militant stronghold. A U.S.-led operation planned for later this year aims to clear Kandahar of Taliban fighters. U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, in part to back up the Kandahar offensive.

The operation will be a critical test of the Obama administration's Afghan strategy.

NATO says one of its service members has died from a roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan. The soldier's nationality was not given in Sunday's statement. NATO previously reported the killing of two Dutch soldiers Saturday by a roadside bomb in Uruzgan province. The Netherlands' Defense Ministry said a third Dutch soldier was seriously wounded in that attack. It is not clear if the latest service member to die was that wounded soldier. NATO also says Afghan and international forces found two caches of weapons in the Garm Ser and Laskar Gar districts of Helmand province Saturday. The weapons included assault rifles, explosive devices and materials used in bomb-making. Another joint patrol found a cache of weapons in Kandahar province after receiving a tip from an Afghan civilian. NATO added Sunday that Afghan and international forces found more than 1,700 kilograms of opium and about 280 kilograms of hashish in two trucks in Helmand province on Saturday. The joint force took the truck occupants into custody and plans to destroy the narcotics.