KABUL (Agencies)
Four U.S.-led soldiers were killed on Saturday in a bomb and gunfire attack just outside the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, the force said, as Taliban rebels stepped up attacks against the troops.
Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the blast, a U.S. military statement said, without giving any further details.
The nationality of the casualties will not be revealed before the next of their kin are informed. Most of the soldiers in the coalition are however American.
The latest deaths took to 31 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the start of June, the deadliest month for the foreign military deployment here this year.
The Taliban have upped pressure on Kandahar in the past two weeks, freeing at least 300 of their comrades in the jail break, then occupying areas outside the town, forcing Afghan and foreign troops to launch a large offensive to clear them out.
As well as about 50,000 troops in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), there are some 14,000 mainly American soldiers who are part of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, mainly involved in anti-terrorism operations and training Afghan security forces.
The Taliban have vowed to step up their campaign of suicide and roadside bombings this year to weaken the pro-Western Afghan government and wear down Western support for the continued presence of international troops inside the country.
While Afghan and international forces are able to fight off any conventional Taliban attack, combating suicide and roadside improvised explosive devices is proving more of a challenge as it depends on good policing and intelligence work. |
