GI and 16 Suspected Afghan Rebels Killed

Fighting sparked by an insurgent attack on patrolling coalition forces in southern Afghanistan killed one U.S. service member and at least 16 suspected Taliban rebels, the military said Tuesday.

The American was killed Monday when militants opened fire on Afghan and U.S. forces in Zabol province’s Day Chopan district, a remote mountainous region known as a hub of rebel activity.

U.S. and coalition aircraft joined the ensuing battle. The American military said in a statement that “initial estimates indicate at least 16 enemy forces were killed.”

It gave no further details about the U.S. service member’s death, pending notification of relatives.

Zabol has been at the center of recent unrest in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where Taliban and Al Qaeda militants remain active, waging attacks that have left more than 900 people dead since March.

The latest U.S. casualty followed the deaths Thursday of three American service members in eastern Afghanistan.

Two drowned when their Humvee slid into a river near Jalalabad and the third was killed by a roadside bomb in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.

Officials have warned that the violence is likely to intensify as the legislative elections scheduled for Sept. 18 approach.

In other violence, a roadside bomb wounded two American service members Tuesday in eastern Ghazni province, the military said.

Also in eastern Ghazni, four guerrillas killed a doctor Monday at a medical clinic.