Six US soldiers killed in Afghan suicide bombing

Afghan National Army soldiers adjusting their equipment in Helmand on Monday. The deputy governor of the province warned that the area was at risk of falling to the Taleban, but the government rejected such assertions and said reinforcements had been
Afghan National Army soldiers adjusting their equipment in Helmand on Monday. The deputy governor of the province warned that the area was at risk of falling to the Taleban, but the government rejected such assertions and said reinforcements had been dispatched. The fall of Helmand would be a major blow to Afghan forces. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

KABUL • A motorcycle-riding Taleban suicide bomber killed six United States soldiers near Kabul in a brazen attack as the resurgent militant group battled to seize a key southern district in Afghanistan's opium-growing heartland.

The bombing on Monday during a joint patrol with Afghan forces near Bagram, the largest US military base in Afghanistan, marks one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in the country this year.

The Taleban claimed responsibility for the assault, which underscores a worsening security situation a year after Nato formally ended its combat operations in Afghanistan.

"It is with deep regret that I learnt that six US service members died in Afghanistan on Monday," US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement, adding that three others were wounded, including an American contractor. "It serves as a painful reminder of the dangers our troops face every day in Afghanistan."

The attack came as Taleban insurgents in Helmand were closing in on the strategic district of Sangin, tightening their grip on the volatile southern province. Local residents reported crippling food shortages in the district, long seen as a hornet's nest of insurgent activity, after the Taleban began storming government buildings on Sunday.

"The Taleban have captured the police headquarters, the governor's office, as well as the intelligence agency building in Sangin," deputy Helmand governor Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar said. "Fighting is escalating in the district," he said.

Mr Rasoolyar's comments come a day after he posted a desperate plea on Facebook to President Ashraf Ghani, warning that the province was at risk of falling to the Taleban.

The government in Kabul said reinforcements had been dispatched to Sangin while denying claims of large casualties and rejecting assertions that the district was at risk of being captured. But residents said roads to Sangin had been heavily mined by insurgents, and exhausted soldiers besieged in government buildings were begging for food rations.

The grim assessment bore striking similarities to the security situation that led to the brief fall of the northern city of Kunduz in September - the biggest Taleban victory in 14 years of war.

The fall of Helmand would deal another stinging blow to Afghan forces who have struggled to rein in the ascendant insurgency without the full backing of Nato forces.

Highlighting the gravity of the situation, US special forces have been sent to Helmand in recent weeks to assist Afghan forces, a senior Western official told AFP, without offering details.

This month marks a year since the US-led Nato mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan- led operation, with allied nations assisting in training local forces.

US President Barack Obama in October announced that thousands of US troops would remain in Afghanistan past next year, backpedalling on previous plans to reduce the force and acknowledging that Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 23, 2015, with the headline Six US soldiers killed in Afghan suicide bombing. Subscribe