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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| US soldier killed in Taliban raid |
| 2004-05-16 |
| One American soldier was killed in Afghanistan and two were slightly wounded after their convoy was attacked near Girishk, in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said on Sunday. A brief statement said the attack took place late on Saturday, and the two wounded soldiers had already returned to duty. One suspect had been detained. The attack appeared to be the same as a clash reported by Afghan officials in an area around 80 km (50 miles) north of Girishk called Mosa Qala. Mosa Qala is 450 km (280 miles) southwest of Kabul. Helmand intelligence chief Haji Dad Mohammad Khan told Reuters that three suspected Taliban had been arrested after attacking U.S. forces in the area, and that up to 500 Afghan troops were involved in search operations. Haji Mohammad Wali, spokesman for the Helmand governor, said unidentified men in a car attacked the convoy and damaged one U.S. military vehicle. American forces called in close air support. Taliban spokesman Haji Latif Hakimi said the radical Islamic militia waging an insurgency against foreign troops and the central government was behind the attack, although his claims of 10 U.S. soldiers killed appeared to be exaggerated. In a separate incident, a U.S. soldier suffered severe wounds when his vehicle was hit by a bomb on Thursday around 30 km (19 miles) southeast of Qalat in the southern province of Zabul. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |