KABUL, 29 December 2005 — Two soldiers, one an American and the other an Afghan, were killed yesterday in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan that also wounded two US troops, a US military spokesman said.
A Taleban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, claimed responsibility for the attack in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan.
Capt. Dwayne Wirfel, a spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan, said one US soldier had been killed and two wounded. He said an Afghan government soldier was also killed.
“An improvised explosive device struck their vehicle,” he said.
More than 50 US soldiers have been killed in combat in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period for US forces since they overthrew the Taleban in 2001 for refusing to hand over Osama Bin Laden.
A US military statement earlier said one US service member was killed and four injured yesterday when their armored vehicle overturned in an accident in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. It said the accident had not been caused by hostile activity.
Washington announced this month that it planned to cut US troop numbers in Afghanistan to about 16,500 from 19,000 by next spring, despite a stubborn Taleban insurgency.
The Pentagon said the cut was made possible by a planned increase in NATO forces next year and the growing size of Afghan security forces.
Meanwhile, a Taleban commander fighting US troops in Afghanistan made his debut on US television Tuesday, claiming that his troops had killed three US Navy Seals and downed a Chinook helicopter.
Thirty-five-year-old Commander Ismail was interviewed by NBC News in August and again this month with his face covered except for his eyes. Both times, the Taleban made sure their location remained a secret, the network said. An NBC producer was taken on a confusing seven-hour odyssey to an unknown location, where Ismail then appeared.
