KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Scores of Afghans were killed Wednesday in Taliban attacks and other violence including a NATO airstrike, highlighting persistent instability as foreign troops begin their drawdown more than a decade after the U.S.-led invasion.

The bloodbath spanned from the insurgents' stronghold in the south to the relatively peaceful north to the volatile eastern border with Pakistan. Two U.S. pilots also were killed when their helicopter crashed in Ghazni province in the east, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The deadliest assault took place in the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, where three suicide bombers turned a dusty marketplace into a gruesome scene of body parts, clothing, glass and other debris.