Afghan blasts kill 5 US soldiers
Source: Agencies |
July 25, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FIVE American troops died yesterday in bombings in southern Afghanistan where international forces are stepping up the fight against the Taliban, officials said.
Four of the victims died in a single blast, NATO said in a statement without specifying nationalities nor providing further details. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south.
US officials confirmed all five were Americans.
The latest deaths bring to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans.
The US-led force is ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region. Rising casualty tolls, however, are eroding support for the war even as US President Barack Obama has sent thousands of reinforcements to try and turn back the Taliban.
Last Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing US troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the pullout to security conditions on the ground.
Also yesterday, the Interior Ministry reported that five Afghan civilians were killed by a bomb in the Chora District of Uruzgan Province. A total of seven militants have died in clashes with Afghan and international forces since Friday night in the provinces of Khost, Uruzgan and Kunar.
Four of the victims died in a single blast, NATO said in a statement without specifying nationalities nor providing further details. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south.
US officials confirmed all five were Americans.
The latest deaths bring to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans.
The US-led force is ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region. Rising casualty tolls, however, are eroding support for the war even as US President Barack Obama has sent thousands of reinforcements to try and turn back the Taliban.
Last Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing US troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the pullout to security conditions on the ground.
Also yesterday, the Interior Ministry reported that five Afghan civilians were killed by a bomb in the Chora District of Uruzgan Province. A total of seven militants have died in clashes with Afghan and international forces since Friday night in the provinces of Khost, Uruzgan and Kunar.
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