Two US soldiers killed in Afghanistan fighting

by Khan Mohammad Khan Mohammad – Sat Jul 4, 2009, 4:03 am ET

KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) –

Two US soldiers and up to 32 alleged Taliban fighters were killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan, as Marines battling in the south pressed one of their biggest assaults of the eight-year war.

The US military said two American soldiers were killed and another four wounded in an explosion in the eastern province of Paktika, which borders Pakistan and where government troops are locked in battles with Taliban fighters.

"There was an explosion, a possible IED (improvised-explosive device), in Paktika province this morning in which two US service members were killed," said military spokesman Sergeant Charles Marsh.

"Then the base came under random fire by (Taliban fighters). We do have two US service members killed and four wounded," said Marsh.

Air support was then called in against rebels, he said.

Hamidullah Zhwak, a spokesman for the local Afghan administration, said the US casualties were caused when Taliban fighters blew up a fuel tanker in front of a local government building in the district of Zirok.

"After the blast, American helicopters came in and attacked the Taliban (fighters) who were preparing to attack the district headquarters," he said.

"Thirty-two Taliban (fighters) were killed," Zhwak said, adding that 32 dead bodies were recovered after a two-hour battle erupted between armed Taliban fighters and US helicopter gunships following the initial explosion.

Eight other alleged Taliban fighters were injured and captured by troops, Zhwak said.

When contacted by AFP the US military, however, was not able to confirm the Taliban fighters' casualties immediately.

Taliban fighters later claimed responsibility for what it described as a two-pronged attack in which five militants died, excluding a suicide bomber.

"Today Hafiz Omar carried out a suicide attack with 8,000 kilos of explosives in a (fuel) tanker on an American base... in Zirok," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP.

"At the same time 100 mujahedin (holy fighters) attacked the base just after the explosion... Americans suffered heavy casualties and we lost five of our fighters," the spokesman said.

Paktika is one of the most troubled regions in the east where thousands of foreign, mainly US forces are battling a resurgent Taliban (resistance movement), who were evicted from power in Afghanistan by the 2001 US-led invasion.

The resistance aims to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

 (Agence France Press editors seem to forget that resistance to foreign occupation is what motivates any resistance movement, not just toppling the puppet government. The French resistance during World War II, for example, was against the German occupation of France, not against its Vichy puppet government).

US President Barack Obama has made Afghanistan the centre-piece of his foreign policy, dispatching an extra 21,000 American troops as part of a sweeping new war plan to stabilise the country.

Nearly 4,000 Marines and 600 Afghan forces are pressing a massive operation in the southern province of Helmand, in a pivotal test for the new strategy and to protect the local population ahead of presidential polls on August 20.

So far only one US Marine has been reported killed in the offensive, which the US commanding officer said was becoming a "hell of a fight" Friday.

"We don't have any casualties. The enemy had, but we don't have figures," the Afghan defence ministry said in a short statement on Saturday.

The 5th Infantry Battalion met only light resistance in their push south and had already been able to meet locals at shuras (councils), Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said, speaking to a convoy with which AFP was travelling.

But "for 2/8 there is a hell of a fight going on in the southern quarter of the sector," the top Marine said on arrival at Garmsir, a town along the Helmand River that was a key objective for Operation Khanjar.

Commanders said they would persuade locals that the Afghan security forces -- backed by Western troops -- offered them a better long-term future than the fundamentalist Taliban militia as Afghanistan braces for elections next month.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP the group had not started directly fighting against the US Marine and a separate British operation under way for two weeks north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

Taliban fighters had planted mines on various roads to meet the troops and some vehicles had been blown up, causing several casualties, he said.

2 US troops die in attack on base in Afghanistan

By Fisnik Abrashi And Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers

July 4, 2009

KABUL –

Taliban fighters fired rockets and mortars at a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two American troops and wounding several more in a two-hour battle, officials said.

During the clash, which ended only after U.S. forces called in airstrikes, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck toward the base's gates. It blew up when American troops fired on it.

More than 30 alleged Taliban fighters were killed in the battle in Zerok district of Paktika province, said Hamidullah Zawak, the provincial governor spokesman. Seven American and two Afghan troops were wounded, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Attack helicopters, airstrikes and fire from U.S. troops killed at least 10 alleged Taliban fighters, according to a statement from the NATO-led force under which these American troops fight. Troops detained one alleged Taliban fighter, it said. The discrepancy in the alleged Taliban fighters' death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.

The multi-pronged attack near the Pakistan border is hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the massive Marine assault in southern Afghanistan and underscores the militants' ability to inflict casualties on the over-stretched U.S. forces as they widen their battle against the Taliban fighters, who have made a violent comeback following their initial defeat in the American-led 2001 invasion.

Responding to the deteriorating security situation, President Barack Obama's administration has ordered 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008 but still half as many as are now in Iraq.

As part of the new strategy, 4,000 Marines poured into volatile Helmand province on Thursday in the biggest U.S. military operation in Afghanistan since 2001, trying to cut insurgent supply lines and win over local elders.

Also in the south, a roadside bomb Saturday killed seven policemen in Kandahar province, the Interior Ministry statement said. Another two Afghan soldiers died in a separate blast in Helmand province's Musa Qala district also Saturday, the Defense Ministry said.

In the eastern attack, a Taliban fighter drove a truck filled with explosives and gravel toward the gates of the U.S. base, Zawak said. When the driver did not heed warnings to stop, troops opened fire on the truck, which exploded, he said.

The blast happened in the middle of a rocket and mortar fire attack on the base, which killed two U.S. troops and wounded seven other American soldiers, said Spc. April Campbell, a U.S. military spokeswoman.

The clash lasted for two hours before U.S.-called airstrikes that ended the fight, Zawak said.

Two Afghan soldiers were also wounded. The base housed both U.S. and Afghan soldiers.

Zabiullah Mujaheed, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack. After the blast, some 100 Taliban fighters fired at the coalition troops for several hours, briefly taking over two of their checkpoints, Mujaheed said.

Campbell denied the Taliban ever took over any checkpoints.

Zawak said 32 insurgents were killed in the airstrikes, and that authorities have already recovered 16 bodies. Mujaheed said five insurgents were killed and three were wounded.

It is impossible to independently verify Zawak's and Mujaheed's claims because the base is in a remote area.

Saturday's attack happened in the same province where an American soldier and three Afghans were believed captured by Taliban fighters Tuesday.

U.S. troops continued looking for the soldier, Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said Friday. The military has not publicly identified him.

No immediate claim of responsibility was made by any insurgent group for the missing soldier or Saturday's attack.

Taliban faction led by Sirajuddin Haqqani operate in the area where the attack took place.

Associated Press writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that base does not fall under U.S.-led coalition.)

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alemarah1.org reported the following news (33 Afghani Soldiers Killed):