Kabul, 5 Nov. (AKI) - Four Italian soldiers were wounded in a bomb attack in the western Afghanistan province of Herat on Thursday, an Italian defence ministry spokesman said. The latest attack occurred as the United Nations announced it was temporarily relocating 600 foreign staff based in Afghanistan.

The Italian paratroopers were injured when a bomb exploded on a road 20 kilometres from the town of Shindand, in the Zerko Valley. None of the soldiers was seriously injured.

"They are not critical and have already communicated personally with their families," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Marco Mele told Adnkronos.

An investigation had begun to determine whether the attack was caused by a roadside bomb, a suicide bomber or a car bomb, he said.

About 3,000 Italian soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, mostly around Herat.

Six Italian soldiers were killed in the Afghan capital,Kabul, in September in the deadliest attack against Italy’s forces in the country.

At the end of October Italy set aside 224.8 million euros for foreign peacekeeping missions until the end of the year.

The UN personnel will return to work once security had been improved at unsecured accommodation used by the organisation, it said.

The UN decision follows a deadly raid by the Taliban last week on a hostel in the capital, Kabul, which left five UN workers and three Afghans dead.

The attack on the private guesthouse last Wednesday was the deadliest on the UN in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.