KABUL, 25 July 2005 — One US soldier and a militant were killed yesterday when up to 20 insurgents attacked a coalition unit in southwest Afghanistan, the US military said.
Another American soldier and a coalition interpreter, as well as two militants, were also wounded in the gunfight in the Gerishk district of Helmand Province, the US military said in a statement.
“A US soldier was killed today and another wounded when their unit was attacked by 15 to 20 enemies in southwestern Afghanistan,” it said.
“In returning fire, US and Afghan forces killed one enemy and wounded two others.” All the injured were being treated, and the two coalition personnel were later released, while the conditions of the attackers, identified only as “enemy fighters”, was unknown.
US attack aircraft and helicopters were dispatched to the scene of the clash and forces from the Kandahar Airfield base were also searching for the attackers, who had fled.
An Afghan Army commander earlier told AFP that US-led forces had clashed with Taleban fighters in the battle at Qala-e-Gaz area in Grishik district, some 520 kilometers south of Kabul.
“In the almost two-hour exchange of fire with the Taleban, one militant was killed and two others were wounded in Qala-e-Gaz,” said Afghan National Army southern corps commander Gen. Muslim Hamid.
“We also seized rocket-propelled grenades, PK machine guns and AK-47s in the operation,” Hamid said.
Attacks by militants of the ousted hard-line regime and their allies have increased ahead of scheduled September parliamentary elections.
More than 770 people have been killed this year, most of them militants.
An 18,000-strong US-led coalition force remains in Afghanistan to hunt down Taleban fighters, mainly in the south and southeast of the country, large parts of which remain a lawless hotbed for insurgents.
In an incident Saturday, a bomb attack destroyed a 20-bed hospital in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province but caused no casualties, said Kandahar province deputy police chief Mohammed Hakim Angar. And a rocket hit Kandahar city late Saturday, also without causing casualties, said city intelligence director Saadullah.
