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Bomb kills four US soldiers in Afghan badlands as allies prepare to take over
WARNING SIGN:
The insurgent attack in a hotbed of militia activity serves as a grisly reminder of the dangers for coalition troops due to begin duties there mid-year
AP, KABUL
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2006, Page 6
A bomb killed four US troops when it hit their armored vehicle in a volatile mountainous region, while five Afghan members of a US-backed militia were killed in a firefight, officials said.
The bombing was the deadliest loss for the US military in four months and served as a chilling reminder of the dangers thousands of British, Canadian and Dutch troops will face when they take over from US forces in southern Afghanistan by midyear.
The four US troops were patrolling with Afghan soldiers along a valley road in Uruzgan Province's Dihrawud district, a hotbed of the insurgency, when they were attacked, said Lieutenant Mike Cody, a US military spokesman.
Shortly after the blast, militants fired with guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The troops fought back and called in attack helicopters and fighter planes to pound the militants' positions, a military statement said. An assessment of insurgent casualties is ongoing, it said.
"This is a sad and tragic day for us all," Brigadier General John Sterling, a US commander, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The names of the victims was withheld, pending notification of next of kin.
The bombing raised the death toll of US personnel in and around Afghanistan to 214 since the US invaded the country in late 2001.
The blast was the biggest loss of life since late September when five troops were killed in a helicopter crash.
Violence spiked across southern and eastern Afghanistan last year as militants stepped up their campaign against the country's US-backed government.
Some 1,600 people were killed, including 91 US troops, more than double the number in 2004.
The past four months has seen an unprecedented spate of more than 20 suicide bombings, raising fears of Iraq-style bloodshed.
US military commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, however, say the spike in suicide attacks and roadside bombings suggests the insurgents are no longer able to carry out major assaults.
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