[Marxism] The other shoe drops

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

MSNBC.com

4 U.S. soldiers killed, 3 injured in Afghan blast
Two U.S. Embassy officials wounded in separate explosion
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:03 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan killed four 
U.S. soldiers and wounded three others on Sunday, the U.S. military said.

Later Sunday, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of U.S. Embassy 
vehicles in Kabul, wounding two American officials, an embassy spokesman said.

Police officials said the blast occurred on the western outskirts of the 
Afghan capital.

Two Americans suffered minor injuries in the explosion, embassy spokesman 
Lou Fintor said.

Wounded soldiers in stable condition
The deadly blast came as the troops were patrolling in Zabul province?s 
Daychopan district, the military said in a statement. The three wounded 
soldiers were hit by shrapnel and were in stable condition, the military said.

?The unit was conducting offensive operations in support of an ongoing 
mission to find and defeat enemy forces in the area when the attack 
occurred,? the statement said. ?The unit?s mission is part of a much larger 
operation to disrupt enemy forces and to thereby provide a safe environment 
for upcoming September elections.?

The statement quoted Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S.-led coalition?s 
operational commander, as saying the attack would ?strengthen, not weaken, 
the resolve? of the force.

Violence flares
Violence in Afghanistan has flared ahead of the nation?s key Sept. 18 
legislative elections, which Taliban-led rebels want to sabotage.

On Friday, the military said militants clashed with coalition forces near 
Asadabad in eastern Afghanistan, killing a U.S. Marine and an Afghan soldier.

The U.S. military also reported that a roadside bomb Thursday killed two 
U.S. soldiers and wounded two others who were protecting road workers on a 
U.S.-funded project in southern Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold.

U.S. officials have warned that fighting could escalate ahead of the 
parliamentary and provincial assembly elections, seen as the next step in 
building Afghanistan?s democracy after a quarter-century of civil strife 
and war.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be 
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9028077/


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