KABUL, 22 August 2005 — Four US soldiers were killed and three wounded in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday, the US military said, as American casualties mount during their bloodiest year so far in the country.
The Taleban, whose regime was toppled in a US-led offensive in late 2001, have stepped up attacks in the run-up to legislative elections on Sept. 18.
“Four US soldiers were killed today and three were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack south of Deh Chopan,” in southern Zabul province, a military statement said.
The three soldiers were wounded trying to pull their comrades to safety as secondary blasts were triggered by a fire started by the initial explosion, the statement said.
The three wounded “were evacuated to a nearby forward operating base for treatment of shrapnel wounds and are in stable condition at this time.”
The unit was conducting offensive operations in support of an ongoing mission to find and defeat enemy forces in the area when the attack occurred, it added.
“These soldiers were operating and fighting alongside Afghan National Security Forces,” said Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, Combined Joint Task Force-76 Commanding General.
Kamiya said mounting attacks on US and Afghan security forces would not weaken their resolve and the attacks were a reflection of the enemy’s “desperation and cowardliness.”
“The enemy knows that he is at a race with time, a race that he will inevitably lose,” he added. Deh Chopan has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks with more than 200 militants being killed in the area.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb hit a US Embassy vehicle northwest of Kabul yesterday.
“The vehicle was part of a convoy on routine embassy business. Two Americans experienced minor injuries in the explosion and have been treated and released,” said US Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor. The incident is under investigation, he said. Local police officials said the blast occurred in Paghman district but did not say who was responsible.
Taleban loyalists and their Al-Qaeda allies have also stepped up their attacks on US troops with increasingly effective bombs.
In the past week seven US soldiers have been killed in southern and eastern Afghanistan, six of them by bombs.
The latest casualties bring to 74 the number of soldiers killed this year in operations linked to Afghanistan.
Some 50 of these were killed in hostile attacks in Afghanistan, compared with 23 in 2004, 47 in 2003, 43 in 2002, and 12 in 2001. The latest US casualties came as Taleban insurgents shot dead a pro-government cleric and his companion in Panjwaey district of southern Kandahar province, an official said.
