Afghan Blast Kills 4 U.S. Troops
A roadside bomb killed four U.S. troops traveling in an armored vehicle Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, the deadliest attack on coalition forces in a month.
The troops died while patrolling in the Pech Valley of Kunar province, U.S. military spokesman Col. Jim Yonts said. Kunar Gov. Asadullah Wafa said the blast went off as a convoy of six American vehicles passed.
Sunday’s bombing raised the death toll of U.S. military personnel in the region to 220 since a U.S.-led offensive toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan in late 2001. It was the deadliest attack since Feb. 13, when a roadside bomb killed four American troops in central Oruzgan province.
Also Sunday, a car bombing in the capital, Kabul, targeted Sibghatullah Mojaddidi, a Muslim cleric who briefly served as president in 1992. He now heads the upper house of parliament and leads a commission encouraging Taliban fighters to reconcile with the government.
Mojaddidi escaped with burns to his hands and face, but two bystanders, a girl on her way to school and a man on a motorbike, were killed.
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