Afghanistan ? Two powerful bombings rocked the southern Afghan city of Kandahar Thursday, killing three foreigners and three Afghan soldiers, according to President Hamid Karzai’s half brother. Meanwhile, four German soldiers were killed in fighting in the north.

NATO forces are gearing up for a major operation this summer in Kandahar — the largest city in the Taliban-ridden south and the birthplace of the hardline Islamist movement.

But the burst of violence in widely separated areas of the country underscores the reach of the Taliban beyond their southern homeland, even as the U.S. sends more forces to ramp up the war.