Kabul, Afghanistan – A massive bomb exploded under a wooden bridge as a convoy of armored Humvees was crossing it Sunday, killing four U.S. soldiers and wounding three others in the deadliest assault on American forces in Afghanistan in nearly two months.
The troops were part of a major offensive against militants who have vowed to subvert legislative elections Sept. 18 – the next step toward democracy after more than two decades of war and civil strife.
Rebels also stepped up attacks elsewhere, wounding two U.S. Embassy staff members in a roadside bombing in the capital and killing a senior pro- government cleric and a colleague in the country’s south.
Though the U.S. military operation has left dozens of suspected rebels dead or captured, a number of American troops also have been killed, including 13 this month.
U.S. and Afghan officials have warned that violence may worsen ahead of the polls.
The bomb tied to the bottom of the small bridge exploded as the last of three Humvees was slowly crossing it, said Bashir Ahmad Khan, the government chief in Zabul province’s Daychopan district.
“It was an enormous remote-controlled bomb. The American vehicle was tossed into the air and off the bridge. It’s totally destroyed, as is the bridge,” he said.
The three wounded troops were hit by shrapnel from secondary explosions as they tried to pull the four soldiers out of the burning Humvee, the military statement said.
The three were evacuated to a nearby base, and their condition was stable.
It was the deadliest attack on American forces since June 28, when 19 service members were killed in eastern Kunar province when a Navy SEAL team was ambushed and a helicopter was shot down.
One hundred eighty-seven U.S. service members have been killed in and around Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 – including 64 during a rash of insurgent attacks in the past six months, which have left about 1,000 others dead.
The bloodshed has led the military to rush in an airborne infantry battalion of about 700 troops on standby in Fort Bragg, N.C., boosting the number of American troops in Afghanistan to about 20,000.
About 3,100 soldiers from 19 other nations also are members of the U.S.-led coalition. A NATO-led peacekeeping force has brought in reinforcements and numbers about 10,500.
