KABUL — A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden motorcycle into a joint NATO-Afghan patrol Monday, killing six Americans in the deadliest attack on international forces since August. Two Americans and an Afghan were wounded.
The attack happened as Taliban fighters overran a strategic district in the southern province of Helmand, the scene of some of the deadliest fighting between the Taliban and international combat forces prior to the 2014 withdrawal, adding weight to Pentagon predictions that the insurgency is gaining strength.
The soldiers were targeted as they moved through a village near Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
A U.S. official confirmed that six American soldiers were killed and two wounded. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.
“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those affected in this tragic incident, especially during this holiday season,” Army Brig. Gen. William Shoffner, head of public affairs at NATO’s Resolute Support base in the Afghan capital Kabul, said in a statement.
In Washington, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the nation’s thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and their loved ones, and that the U.S. will continue to work jointly with Afghans to promote peace and stability in their country.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter called the attack “a painful reminder of the dangers our troops face every day in Afghanistan.”
It was the deadliest attack in four months. On Aug. 22, three American contractors with the RS base were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul. On Aug. 7 and 8, Kabul was the scene of three insurgent attacks within 24 hours that left at least 35 people dead. One of the attacks, on a U.S. special operations base outside Kabul, killed one U.S soldier and eight Afghan civilian contractors.
In the year since the international drawdown, the Taliban insurgency has intensified. Although the combat mission ended last year, around 9,800 U.S. troops and almost 4,000 NATO forces remain in Afghanistan. They have a mandate to “train, assist and advise” their Afghan counterparts, who are now effectively fighting a battle-hardened Taliban alone.
Monday’s attack came as Taliban fighters and government forces battled for control of a strategic district in the southern province of Helmand after it was overrun by insurgents, delivering a serious blow to the government’s thinly spread and exhausted forces.
Mohammad Jan Rasulyar, Helmand’s deputy governor, said insurgents took control of the Sangin district late Sunday.
Rasulyar had taken the unusual step of alerting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the dire security situation and requesting urgent reinforcements through an open letter posted on Facebook on Sunday, saying that he had not been able to make contact through other means.
“We had to take to social media to reach you as Helmand is falling,” Rasulyar wrote on Facebook.
