10 NATO Soldiers, 10 Afghani Civilians Killed in War Attacks

September 17-18, 2009

Editor's Note:

Readers are advised that the following news reports come from news agencies of NATO countries. There are no news sources on this page representing the other side of the conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban Movement, after shutting down its website, www.alemarah1.org .

As General Patton once said, "The first casualty of war is the truth."

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Canadian, American troops killed in Afghanistan

By Kay Johnson, Associated Press Writer

– Fri Sep 18, 2009, 3:56 am ET

KABUL –

A U.S. service member and a Canadian soldier were killed in separate roadside bombings in southern Afghanistan, officials said Friday, the latest in a wave of Taliban attacks.

The two international troops died Thursday, the same day a car bomber killed six Italian troops in a brazen attack in the heavily guarded capital of Kabul.

The Taliban fighters have increased attacks sharply this year in the run-up to last month's presidential elections and with the arrival of 21,000 more American troops. The Islamist extremists, who were driven from power in the U.S.-led invasion of 2001, now control large swaths of the countryside.

U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the American service member died Thursday when his patrol struck a bomb planted in a road in southern Afghanistan. She did not provide his name.

The Canadian Press quoted Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance confirming the death of Private Jonathan Couturier, 23, on Thursday. The soldier was returning from a mission to root out Taliban weapons caches when his vehicle hit a bomb in the southern province of Kandahar.

Bombs planted in and around roads are one of the weapons of choice for the insurgents. The improvised explosives now account for the majority of U.S. and NATO casualties in Afghanistan and have killed nearly half of the 131 Canadian soldiers who have died in the country.

Car bomb in Kabul kills 6 Italians, 10 Afghanis

By Amir Shah And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writers

– Thu Sep 17, 2009, 5:22 pm ET

KABUL –

A suicide car bomber killed six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghani civilians Thursday in the heavily guarded capital of Kabul — a grim reminder of the Taliban's reach amid political uncertainty in Afghanistan.

The Taliban (Movement) claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack for the Italian contingent in the country.

Violence has increased since the U.S. sent thousands more troops to push back the resurgent Taliban (Movement) and bolster security for last month's still-unresolved presidential election. The Taliban made good on threats to disturb the vote, and militant attacks have risen not just in the group's southern heartland but also in the north and in Kabul and surrounding areas.

The bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into two Italian military vehicles in a convoy about midday. Four Italian soldiers were also wounded, said Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa. The Afghan Interior Ministry said an additional 55 civilians were injured.

The explosion shattered windows in buildings about half a mile (a kilometer) away and shook offices and homes throughout the central Afghan neighborhood that houses embassies and military bases.

Charred vehicles littered the road just off a main traffic circle that leads to the airport. An Associated Press reporter saw six vehicles burned, including an Italian Humvee, and two bodies covered with plastic sheets.

Shopkeeper Feraudin Ansari said he felt the blast in his store about 50 yards (meters) away. Windows were broken in all the shops on the street. He said he was angry at NATO forces for being in the downtown area.

"Why are you patrolling inside the city? There is no al-Qaida, no Taliban here," said Ansari, 25. "My shop is destroyed, and my head hurts from the blast."

Elsewhere, a NATO service member died from a bomb strike in the south Wednesday, NATO forces said.

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Associated Press writers Desmond Butler in Washington and Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.