UPDATE | 3 Ohio National Guard Soldiers killed in action, Taliban claims responsibility

COLUMBUS (AP) — Three U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide attack this week in Afghanistan were from Ohio, as were several others seriously wounded in the bombing, the Ohio National Guard said Thursday.

The soldiers killed in the attack Wednesday in Maimanah, the capital of Faryab province, were from the Guard's 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to the Ohio Adjutant General's Department.

The unit includes soldiers from across Ohio, the Guard said.

The attack, by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle, killed at least 13 people Wednesday at a park in a relatively peaceful area of northern Afghanistan. It was part of an increase in violence at the start of the spring fighting season.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility. The bomber's target was unclear.

The infantry brigade has six battalions, with four based in Ohio and two in Michigan.