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thedrifter
04-25-03, 01:24 PM
U.S. Soldier Killed, Five Hurt in Afghan Clash

Fri April 25, 2003 01:26 PM ET

KABUL (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed and five others wounded on Friday in a battle in southeastern Afghanistan in which at least three opposing fighters were also killed, the U.S. military said.
A statement from Colonel Roger King, spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, said one Afghan government soldier was also hurt in the clash with about 20 fighters near a U.S. base at Shkin in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan.

The statement said the clash took place near a site used in the past by opposing forces to launch rocket attacks after a platoon-sized unit responded to a report of suspicious activity.

The statement did not identify the U.S. units involved and said names of the casualties were being withheld pending notification of next of kin. It did not give the condition of the wounded.

About 11,500 U.S.-led coalition troops are in Afghanistan pursuing remnants of the former Taliban regime and the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

The statement said a second platoon-sized quick reaction force was sent to the area of the attack and the fighters fled across the border into Pakistan. The statement did not identify who the fighters were.

"U.S. forces estimate at least three enemy were killed in the exchange of fire," King's statement said.

It said two coalition air force F-16 Fighting Falcons, two U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolts and two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters were called in to provide air support but did not find a target when they reached the area.

The death of the U.S. soldier came just ahead of a planned visit to Afghanistan by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is to visit the U.S. headquarters at Bagram Air Base to the north of Kabul and Afghan leaders in the capital on Sunday.

Diplomats say Rumsfeld's visit will be aimed at assuring U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai that Washington remains committed to Afghanistan in spite of distractions elsewhere like Iraq.

Afghan officials have reported an upsurge in activity by remnants of the Taliban who they say are attempting to regroup.

They say a spate of recent attacks since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq appeared to have been orchestrated from Pakistani territory.

Pakistan was the key supporter of the Taliban until it sided with the U.S.-led "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks.

Last month two U.S. special forces soldiers were killed and another wounded in an ambush in the south of Afghanistan blamed on Taliban remnants and six U.S. military personnel died in a helicopter crash.


Sempers,

Roger