Five army soldiers have been killed in separate roadside bombings across Afghanistan since early Monday, said the country's Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

"Five Afghan National Army soldiers were martyred in improvised explosive device (IED) attacks over the past 24 hours," the ministry confirmed in a statement.

The Taliban insurgent group fighting the government has intensified attacks in spring and summer known as the fighting season in the country.

The Taliban home-made IEDs remained a major threat to Afghan army and police.

The Afghan security forces casualties have risen recently as the United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan switched from combat to support role, namely training, advising and assisting Afghan forces.

More than 51,000 NATO-led foreign troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are currently being deployed in the central Asian state. Majority of them are set to withdraw from Afghanistan by the year end.

The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of 2014.

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