Official: 3 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan

AP

(AP) KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO says a suicide attack has killed three coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan, and a regional Afghan security official tells CBS News the slain troops were Americans.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assault.

A coalition statement says the three troops died Wednesday morning in the province of Kunar. It provided no further details, though initial reports said the attack targeted a NATO foot patrol near the headquarters of the provincial government. NATO does not confirm the nationalities of slain troops until the families have been notified.

The account matches details given by the Afghan official to CBS News. He said at least one suicide bomber on foot approached a group of U.S. soldiers on patrol near the Kunar Provincial Council office and blew himself up.

U.N.: Dip in Afghan civilian casualties "hollow"
Officials: Gunmen in Afghan uniform kill NATO troop
Truck Bomb injures U.S. soldiers at Afghan base

A spokesman for the local government, Wasifullah Wasify, told the Associated Press that at least one Afghan civilian was also killed and three were wounded in the blast.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid says two of the group's fighters targeted a NATO patrol in Kunar. He claims they killed several foreign troops.

So far, 212 U.S. service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan in 2012, according to the independent I-casualties organization. That figure does not include the three unconfirmed U.S. deaths reported on Wednesday. In 2011, 418 U.S. service personnel were killed in the country.

[MatthewJGFLY]

interesting read..im big on airsoft and have some veteran friends that play http://www.airsplat.com/support-gi-troops.htm and they are sad when they see stories like this.

[MomsHugs]

To families of troops & officers, including State Dept. personnel:

Our deepest condolences for your loss of loved ones who died in Afghanistan this week.

Please know that they are not forgotten and we greatly appreciate their service.

Hugs ~ Moms

[MomsHugs]

Why hasn't CBSNews covered the deaths of a brigade's leaders yet? Or the foreign service officer with USAID?

NBCNews reported last night that a suicide bomber killed 3 & injured one, including a USAF major. It did not, however, include the USAID officer who was also killed.

[foo8259]

One NATO troops was killed just yesterday -- it's a war of attrition.

[pcfogarty]

Ten years from now we will then know what we have accomplished by our involvement in the Middle East and not much before that . If we ever had a goal it was misplaced , like the eyeglasses on top of our collective heads . In Iraq the purpose for our invasion changed with the conditions the invasion caused . Now Iraq quivers like a jello salad just out of the ice box and will be holding a reconizable shape until the climate around it heats up causing , whatever we had in mind for it to be , to fall apart and separate into a hundred pieces not one connected in any way to the other . The same can be said of Afghanistan and any other effort we could make in that part of the World.

[Wigglesworth_1]

Afghanistan is a mess. 2 1/2 years after the surge in Iraq the war was over. There were hardly any KIA. AQI was decimated. After the same amount of time in Afghanistan we are on pace for as many KIA as in 2009 when it was determined that a surge was necessary.

[f16poor]

The difference between the surge in Iraq and Afghanistan: Winner President Bush vs. Loser Barak Hussein Obama.

President Bush in Iraq: Whatever troops that military Commanders will need to win the war.

Candidate Obama: Afghanistan is a JUST war.

Loser President Barak Hussein Obama: We need to get out of Afghanistan soooon, like yesterday; you need more troops? I will only give you enough troops to win in the South, and then we need to get out soooon, like yesterday.

[andyk1234]

When are we going to finally end these nonsensical wars? America was supposed to be a nation of defense, not aggression. Korea and Vietnam started America's trend of aggression, and now we've totally screwed ourselves over in the Persian Gulf and Middle East.

FDR had it right when he didn't join WW2 until the US was attacked.

[andyk1234]

It's sad that these kids have to go die in these unnecessary wars. We had a surplus back in 2000, but we threw it away to put $2T/year wars on the government credit card. But hey, at least we secured that land to allow Halliburton to put up a pipeline from the Mediterranean Sea to Saudi Arabia. And we got the Gaza Strip pretty much under Israeli control... That's really what this was all about, wasn't it?

[nancy_naive]

Korea and Vietnam?

Try Cuba, and the Philippines, and Mexico, and Honduras, and... and.. and...

196 Armed conflicts in just over 200 years.

"America was supposed to be a nation of defense."

?????????????????????????????

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

WHY CAN'T WE JUST GET OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're not gonna CHANGE anything there!

God be with their families : (

[f16poor]

"... WHY CAN'T WE JUST GET OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..."

@@@

We are getting out of there!!!!!!! The question is: HOW are we getting out of there?

Do we get out of there with Talibans shooting at our backs while the Afghanistan government collapsing and al-Qaida moving back into Afghanistan?

Or, do we get out of there when there is a stable Afghan government with a sustainable security force?

[livingtxlife]

@f16poor
For many people, it doesn't feel like a stable Afghan government with a sustainable security force IS possible for the US and others to set in place.

[mysteriousjz]

President Ronald Reagan, honoring Afghan "freedom fighters" at the White House in 1983: "The Afghan Mujaheddin are the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers of America."
---------
"To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom."
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan, March 21, 1983

[pcfogarty]

Yes ; and Reagan also said , " We can expect a downturn in the economy as we go from a manufacturing based economy to a service related economy ". Not sure of the date on that quote but about the same time 1983-4 . I knew we were in trouble then . With such wisdom what else but "havoc" can anyone expect?

[f16poor]

Yes, you are right: Both Carter & Reagan administrations helped those honorable Mujaheddin to defeat our cold war communist enemy= the Soviets. The error we made was LEAVING Afghanistan as soon as the Soviets left and Afghanistan was a mess; hence, al-Qaeda moving in and the rest was history: 9-11-01.