KABUL (AFP) – Three Afghan civilians were killed in crossfire between Taliban and soldiers in Afghanistan that also left several rebels dead, while two police died trying to defuse a large bomb Sunday, officials said.

Iran on Sunday dismissed a recent approval by the US House of Representatives to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, and said that the word terrorist is a proper title for the military and security forces of the United States.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is due to meet his US counterpart George W. Bush on Monday to discuss the release of an Iranian businessman and advisor to the governor general of Iran’s Kermanshah province who was arrested by the US troops in Iraq earlier this month.