Afghanistan ? A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a German military patrol outside the gates of the capital’s airport Friday, killing two Afghan soldiers and wounding 10 people, including a German and four Belgians, officials said.

In eastern Afghanistan, a barrage of rockets fired at a U.S.-led coalition base instead hit houses in a nearby village, leaving 10 civilians dead and seven injured, the coalition and Afghan police said.

Violence has been soaring in Afghanistan, where over 4,200 people – most of them insurgents – have been killed this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.

Most of the bloodshed has been in the south and the east where Taliban militants are strongest, although suicide attackers have been targeting foreign and Afghan security forces in Kabul.