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Afghanistan Fighting Kills 2 US Soldiers, 30 Militants
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By VOA News
04 July 2009
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 | | US Marines patrol through a village in Nawa district in Afghanistan's Helmand province, 04 Jul 2009 |
U.S. and Afghan officials say two U.S. soldiers and at least 30
militants have been killed in fighting that began with a Taliban attack
on a base in eastern Afghanistan.
Officials say Taliban
militants began firing rockets and mortars on the base in the Zirok
district of Paktika province Saturday. NATO says one of the mortars
contained white phosphorus.
During an ensuing clash with troops,
a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck toward the base, but
he was shot before he could reach it. The truck exploded.
The
battle ended when troops called in airstrikes. A provincial Afghan
official, Hamidullah Zawak, says at least 30 militants were killed.
The U.S. military says two of its soldiers were killed in an explosion.
The troops were fighting under NATO, which released a
statement saying 10 militants were killed. None of the death tolls
could be independently verified.
Saturday's
attack took place in the same province where an American soldier was
believed captured by insurgents on Tuesday. A Taliban faction led by
Sirajuddin Haqqani operates in Paktika province and has been
responsible for a number of high profile attacks.
The clash in
Paktika comes just days after the United States launched a major
offensive in southern Afghanistan to drive out Taliban insurgents and
secure the area ahead of a presidential vote in Afghanistan in August.
About
4,000 U.S. Marines are taking part in the operation, which includes
developing remote parts of Helmand province in a bid to win over local
Afghans.
Elsewhere in the south, the Afghan interior ministry
says seven Afghan police officers were killed Saturday in a roadside
bombing in Kandahar province.
The ministry says a bomb blast killed an Afghan civilian and wounded another in the northern province of Jawzjan Saturday.
And
Afghan defense officials say two Afghan soldiers were killed Friday in
a roadside bombing in the Musa Qala district of Helmand.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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