KABUL, 9 October 2005 — A US soldier was killed after stepping on a land mine while patrolling in southern Afghanistan, the military said yesterday, bringing to 200 the number of American troops slain here since the Taleban was ousted in 2001. The soldier was part of an offensive patrol in a part of Helmand province that has been wracked by rebel violence recently, a military statement said.
US military spokeswoman Sgt. Marina Evans said it was not immediately clear whether the mine had been recently laid and was meant as an attack on the patrol, or whether it was one of thousands of mines dotted across the country left over from a quarter-century of war.
The statement quoted Brig. Gen. Jack Sterling, a deputy commander of the US-led coalition, as saying, “Its a sad day any time a comrade dies in this ongoing struggle.” “The pain of the loss is tempered only by the knowledge that his efforts and sacrifice have brought closer the day when the growing democracy in Afghanistan removes the terrorists from this country forever,” he said.
“While we mourn this loss, we will continue to work to ensure that Afghanistan remains a stable democracy.” The soldier’s name was withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
The death brought to 200 the number of US service members who have died in and around Afghanistan since 2001, according to military figures. This year has been the deadliest yet for the 21,000-strong US-led coalition force. There was a sharp escalation in fighting ahead of the parliamentary elections held Sept. 18, with more than 1,300 people killed including hundreds of Taleban-led militants during the past seven months.
The vote itself passed off relatively peacefully despite a Taleban threats of violence. Four years after the invasion of Afghanistan, the US military says that the insurgents are far from defeated, but are now recruiting younger fighters and staging smaller attacks as they suffer losses in clashes with coalition and Afghan forces.
Police have arrested two men, one linked to a provincial governor, for their alleged involvement in the murder of a leading candidate in elections last month, an official said. The men were arrested in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where election front-runner Mohammad Ashraf Ramazan and his bodyguard were gunned down nine days after the election.
The killing of Ramazan, who came third in the parliamentary election in Balkh province, sparked demonstrations in the city and the capital Kabul, with protesters accusing provincial governor Atta Mohammed of involvement. One of the men arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder was Habib Rahman, Interior Ministry official Gul Nabi Ahmadzy announced.
