KABUL, July 13, 2009

U.S. Troop Killed In Afghan Attack

Military Provides Few Details on Latest Casualty, 2009 Death Toll Climbing Fast, Now at 105

    • A suspected pro-Taliban fighter sits on steps in the provincial jail in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan province of Afghanistan, July 12, 2009.

      A suspected pro-Taliban fighter sits on steps in the provincial jail in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan province of Afghanistan, July 12, 2009.  (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

    • HM3 Simon Trujillo, a medic from Dallas, Texas, attached to the U.S. Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines, mans the company's radio inside a compound in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province Saturday, July 11, 2009.

      HM3 Simon Trujillo, a medic from Dallas, Texas, attached to the U.S. Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines, mans the company's radio inside a compound in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province Saturday, July 11, 2009.  (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

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(AP)  An American service member has been killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.

Sunday's attack in the town of Bargh-e-Matal in Nuristan province also wounded some other troops, said Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker. She did not have an exact number of wounded.

Sidenstricker did not provide more details on the attack, saying only that it was not a roadside bomb or suicide bomber.

The death brings to 105 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year, compared with 151 U.S. deaths in all of 2008. Overall, 194 international troops have died in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count based on official announcements.

Elsewhere in the east, a roadside bomb killed a district police chief and his three bodyguards Monday in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the governor.

On Sunday, the military reported the deaths of two U.S. Marines in Afghanistan's dangerous south, where thousands of American troops have deployed in a massive operation to oust Taliban fighters from the country's opium poppy region.

The two Marines were killed Saturday in Helmand, but military officials did not release any other details nor give a specific location.

Some 4,000 Marines moved into Helmand province this month, the largest Marine operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion. They have met little head-on resistance but remain vulnerable to guerrilla tactics like suicide and roadside bombs.

© MMIX, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by tautomer July 13, 2009 4:21 PM EDT
Seems like the Obama War is killing more of our guys than their's (civilians don't count!).
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