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Two US Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
Violence marred the start of Afghanistan's New Year with a second US soldier killed in as many days and authorities hunting gunmen who tried to kidnap an elderly American aid worker in Kabul. The bloodshed served as a reminder of the huge problems still facing US-backed President Hamid Karzai as he struggles to rebuild Afghanistan after 25 devastating years of war. The American soldier died and three others were wounded in an ambush early yesterday in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, a day after another soldier and a suspected Taleban leader were killed in western Herat province. Two improvised bombs exploded and militants then shot at US troops on a routine patrol in Kunar, near the town of Asadabad, US military spokesman Maj. Mark McCann told reporters. McCann added that it was unclear whether the soldier was killed by the blasts or the gunfight, and he was unable to say who carried out the attack. Two US soldiers have now died in Afghanistan since Jan. 1 and the attacks bring the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire in the country to 60, with 33 US soldiers killed in 2004, compared with just 12 the previous year.Posted by: Fred 2005-01-03 |
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