Botched Attack on U.S. Troops Kills 6 Civilians in Afghanistan
Militants killed six civilians in a botched ambush of a U.S. troop convoy south of here, officials said Tuesday, and to the east, attackers gunned down two senior police officers.
In the first assault late Monday, rebels fired rockets at a U.S. military convoy 10 miles south of the capital. The rockets missed their target and instead hit three cars carrying civilians, killing six Afghans and wounding three, said Khan Mohammed, police chief in Lowgar province. He said a child was among the dead.
The cars were traveling behind five military Humvees on a main road when they were hit by two rockets and small-arms fire, Mohammed said.
A coalition spokeswoman, Army 2nd Lt. Carmen Nicely, confirmed the ambush and said none of the soldiers was hurt.
The second assault came just before dawn Tuesday. Militants opened fire with assault rifles on a police vehicle 30 miles east of Kabul, said Ghafor Khan, a police spokesman in Jalalabad.
The attack killed two senior officers who were teachers at a police academy. A third was wounded, Khan said.
In addition, a cache of bombs was found in a Kabul junkyard, said Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai.
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