Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the release of some 20 children detained for being involved in suicide bombings.

President Karzai met with the juveniles at his palace in Kabul Wednesday. He told them that such attacks are un-Islamic and discouraged them from pursuing a path of violence.

The Afghan leader then ordered the children to be released to their parents.

The Taliban have used children to carry out attacks in the past. In May, Afghan officials said a 12-year-old suicide bomber killed four people in the eastern province of Paktika.

President Karzai condemned a rocket attack that killed three civilians in the eastern province of Paktia. The rockets struck a busy market in the Zurmat district Wednesday, wounding at least nine other people.

Separately Wednesday, NATO said one of its service members was killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan. The coalition did not give details.

And Afghan police say a roadside bomb killed two Afghan police officers in the Chimtal district of northern Balkh province on Tuesday.