Four U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan
The soldiers were killed by blasts from improvised explosive devices like these.
July 12, 2009
KABUL (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan, the latest casualties in an escalation of insurgent violence.
The military reported on July 12 that the bombings had taken place a day earlier. Another soldier serving with NATO-led forces in the south died on July 10 from wounds received in June, the alliance said in a statement.
Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of British troops have been fighting major new offensives in the past 10 days in Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold and Afghanistan's biggest producer of the opium, which helps fund the insurgency.
"The four killed in two IED attacks were U.S. service members," said U.S. military spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker, referring to improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs, one of the most common weapons used by insurgents to attack Afghan and foreign security forces.
The loss of the four Americans was one of the biggest casualty tolls since the Marines launched their latest assault, Operation Strike of the Sword, on July 2. The British military earlier launched its own offensive in the area.
Seven U.S. soldiers died in attacks across Afghanistan on July 6, including four in a single bombing in northern Kunduz.
British troops mounting their biggest operation of the campaign in Afghanistan have also had casualties at the hands of the Taliban, with 15 killed in a 10-day period, including five in two separate roadside bomb blasts on July 10.
Britain has now lost 184 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the U.S.-led war, more than the 179 killed in Iraq since 2003.