KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s president said today he has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia’s king to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban.

Hamid Karzai said Afghan officials have traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in hopes of ending the country’s six-year conflict but there have not been any negotiations so far.

Also today, the U.S.-led coalition said three of its troops were killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan.

Taliban and other militant bombs have grown larger and more deadly this year. More U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan already this year than in any year since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.