DUSHANBE, July 29, 2008, Asia-Plus - U.S.-led coalition troops killed several militants during a raid in central Afghanistan, while a suspected bomb maker and his family died in an accidental blast in the east, officials said Tuesday.

Coalition troops were fired on as they were searching compounds in Giro district of Ghazni province on Monday, a coalition statement said.

"Coalition forces responded with small-arms fire and air strikes, killing the militants and damaging a building," the statement said, without giving a specific death toll.

During the search, troops discovered bomb-making material and other weapons, it said.

Separately, a suspected bomb maker and four other people died in an accidental explosion inside a house in the eastern Kunar province, said provincial deputy police chief Abdul Sabit Allayar.

The blast in Chawki district killed the alleged bomber, his wife, two sons and a guest. Two other people were wounded, Allayar said.