The largest one-day toll in months is a sign of intensifying conflict in the south, where a major U.S. offensive is under way, as well as increased insurgent activity in the other parts of the nation.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- In the largest one-day death toll in months for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, seven American service members were killed today.
The deaths -- two in the south, four in the north, and one in the east -- were a sign of intensifying conflict in a large swath of the south, where a major U.S. offensive is under way. But they also signaled insurgents' determination to push into areas that have been relatively quiet, such as Afghanistan's northern tier, and to keep up pressure on American forces in the east, which borders Pakistan's volatile tribal areas.
At least six of the deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs -- the insurgents' weapon of choice, according to a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Afghan civilians, too, again proved vulnerable to the rising violence. Two were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the outer gate of the sprawling NATO base at Kandahar, the alliance's main hub in the south. The area where the attacker struck was a gate widely used by Afghan workers entering the base, far from the main part of the military installation. Western troops are usually traveling in armored convoys when they pass through the base's outer ring of defenses.
The deaths of the American troops in the north, in Kunduz province, when their vehicles hit a roadside bomb, were unusual not only because the area suffers relatively few such attacks, but also because there are not many U.S. troops there. Most of the American soldiers are deployed in the south and the east, both of which are hubs of insurgent activity.
The four Americans killed in today's strike had been involved in training Afghan security forces, U.S. military officials said.
Eastern Afghanistan had been the scene two days earlier of a tightly coordinated insurgent attack on a remote base that killed two Americans. A Taliban website today claimed responsibility for the capture of a U.S. soldier who had been reported missing June 30 in the east.
No details were released about the two Americans killed in southern Afghanistan, but it appeared they were not part of a 4,000-strong U.S. Marine force seeking to assert control in the lower Helmand River valley. The offensive, which began earlier this week, is described as the largest American-staged assault since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power.
U.S. military officials have acknowledged it will take some time to determine whether mistrustful tribal leaders and local people in Helmand province will accept the presence of the Marines, let alone welcome the American forces. Afghan officials in the province who allied themselves with the government and Western forces in the past often found themselves at the mercy of the Taliban whenever the attention of thinly spread coalition troops -- mostly British, until the arrival this spring and summer of about 8,000 U.S. Marines -- was diverted elsewhere.
As a centerpiece of the current offensive, called Strike of the Sword, the Marines, accompanied by about 600 Afghan troops, intend to set up small bases and hold the territory, all the while forging relationships with the local leadership, U.S. commanders have said.
In recent days, Marines have pushed as far south as the district of Khan Neshin, a longtime Taliban stronghold, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan said in a statement. It said government control had been restored in the district for the first time in several years.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- In the largest one-day death toll in months for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, seven American service members were killed today.
The deaths -- two in the south, four in the north, and one in the east -- were a sign of intensifying conflict in a large swath of the south, where a major U.S. offensive is under way. But they also signaled insurgents' determination to push into areas that have been relatively quiet, such as Afghanistan's northern tier, and to keep up pressure on American forces in the east, which borders Pakistan's volatile tribal areas.
At least six of the deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs -- the insurgents' weapon of choice, according to a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Afghan civilians, too, again proved vulnerable to the rising violence. Two were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the outer gate of the sprawling NATO base at Kandahar, the alliance's main hub in the south. The area where the attacker struck was a gate widely used by Afghan workers entering the base, far from the main part of the military installation. Western troops are usually traveling in armored convoys when they pass through the base's outer ring of defenses.
The deaths of the American troops in the north, in Kunduz province, when their vehicles hit a roadside bomb, were unusual not only because the area suffers relatively few such attacks, but also because there are not many U.S. troops there. Most of the American soldiers are deployed in the south and the east, both of which are hubs of insurgent activity.
The four Americans killed in today's strike had been involved in training Afghan security forces, U.S. military officials said.
Eastern Afghanistan had been the scene two days earlier of a tightly coordinated insurgent attack on a remote base that killed two Americans. A Taliban website today claimed responsibility for the capture of a U.S. soldier who had been reported missing June 30 in the east.
No details were released about the two Americans killed in southern Afghanistan, but it appeared they were not part of a 4,000-strong U.S. Marine force seeking to assert control in the lower Helmand River valley. The offensive, which began earlier this week, is described as the largest American-staged assault since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power.
U.S. military officials have acknowledged it will take some time to determine whether mistrustful tribal leaders and local people in Helmand province will accept the presence of the Marines, let alone welcome the American forces. Afghan officials in the province who allied themselves with the government and Western forces in the past often found themselves at the mercy of the Taliban whenever the attention of thinly spread coalition troops -- mostly British, until the arrival this spring and summer of about 8,000 U.S. Marines -- was diverted elsewhere.
As a centerpiece of the current offensive, called Strike of the Sword, the Marines, accompanied by about 600 Afghan troops, intend to set up small bases and hold the territory, all the while forging relationships with the local leadership, U.S. commanders have said.
In recent days, Marines have pushed as far south as the district of Khan Neshin, a longtime Taliban stronghold, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan said in a statement. It said government control had been restored in the district for the first time in several years.
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