US soldier killed in Afghan blast, seven Taliban killed in clashes

Source: Monster and critics
Dec 19, 2009, 10:56 GMT

Kabul - A roadside bomb killed a US soldier in southern Afghanistan, while security forces killed seven Taliban fighters in the country's northern region, officials said Saturday.

The soldier, who became the 305th US military death in Afghanistan so far this year, was killed in a roadside bomb blast, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. It did not provide further details.

There are around 68,000 US troops along with around 40,000 forces from other NATO countries currently stationed in Afghanistan.

An additional 30,000 US and up to 7,000 extra NATO troops are expected to arrive in Afghanistan by next summer to try to turn the tide against the Taliban insurgents.

Afghan police and army forces, meanwhile, killed seven Taliban militants in two clashes in Kaltrash and Qerleq village in Archi district of the northern province of Kunduz on Friday night, Mohammad Razaq Yaqoubi, the provincial police chief, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Six other Taliban militants were wounded during the three-hour- operation, he said, adding that there were no casualties among the Afghan forces.

In eastern Afghanistan, a US-led airstrike killed 'several militants at a mountaintop fighting position' in Paktika province on Friday, an ISAF statement said on Saturday.

'The security force targeted the militants after intelligence sources indicated they were in a remote area away from buildings and other structures,' the statement said.