Two NATO troops killed in Afghanistan
US soldiers inspect the site of a suicide attack near the gate of Kandahar international airport on January 19, 2012. A suicide bomber killed at least seven people and wounded eight on January 19 in an attack at Kandahar international airport in war-torn southern Afghanistan, officials said.
A suicide bomber, wearing a vest packed with explosives, killed two NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan today.
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Lori Hodges told CBS News two International Security Assistance Force – Afghanistan (ISAF) service members were killed when their convoy came under attack by militants.
The insurgents were carrying guns and rocket propelled grenades. One of them then detonated a suicide vest, Hodges said.
The Los Angeles Times reported Din Mohammad Darwesh, the governor’s spokesperson in Logar province, said both of those killed were Americans, one immediately and one who died of his wounds a short while later. A third soldier was injured.
The attack brings the number of coalition fatalities to at least 3,190, including 2,123 Americans, since the war started in 2001, according to icasualties.org.
So far this year, 285 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
Yesterday in New York, Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke at the UN General Assembly, in which he said his country had made progress after decades of war.
“Our achievements have not come about easily,” he said. “The Afghan people continue to pay the biggest price any nation has paid – in both life and treasure," media reports quoted.