US Soldier Killed in Southeast Afghanistan

An American soldier was killed and two others wounded when their patrol was attacked by “enemy forces” in southeastern Afghanistan, a US army spokesman said. “It was an incident early this afternoon in Paktika province between a US patrol and enemy forces,” Major Mark McCann said. “As a result, one US soldier was killed and two were wounded,” he said, adding he had no further details on the incident. The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a United States medical facility in Khost province and were in a stable condition, McCann said. Southeastern Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan’s restive tribal regions, has been a hotspot for the US-led coalition fighting insurgents. On October 21, three American soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were wounded in the same province when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed. And on October 16 two American troops died in central Uruzgan province, one of the former strongholds of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban. They were also killed by a roadside device. The coalition of 18,000 troops has been in the country hunting Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters since US forces helped topple the Taliban regime three years ago. Some 16,000 of the troops are American. More than 140 coalition soldiers have died in Afghan operations since the start of US-led military operations.Full Story