Soldier Killed in Attack by Suspected Taliban

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan —  Suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a U.S. patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier, the military said Sunday.

Lt. Col. Michele DeWerth, a U.S. military spokeswoman in the capital, Kabul, said one soldier was killed and two were wounded in the attack, near Girishk in Helmand province.

The two who were injured returned to duty after treatment.

DeWerth said one “anti-coalition” fighter was held at the scene, but Dad Mohammed Khan, the intelligence chief for Helmand, said Afghan agents arrested two suspected Taliban in connection with the attack.

At least 122 U.S. troops have died, including 53 killed in action, since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 to topple the Taliban regime for harboring Al Qaeda terrorists.

Not far from where the patrol was attacked, U.S. troops defused a bomb targeting a bridge Saturday in Girishk, a district police chief said.

The chief, Bier Jan, said six suspects, whom he did not identify, were arrested.

Meanwhile, Afghan police arrested six suspected Taliban on Sunday for arms smuggling in the Panjwayi district of neighboring Kandahar province.

The district police chief, Saadullah Khan, said police seized 80 AK-47 assault rifles found inside an oil tanker, which was being escorted by three cars.

He said two of the arrested men were brothers of an advisor to the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar.

Khan said the men had confessed that they were planning to distribute the weapons to Taliban fighters. He said 500 Afghan forces had been deployed to tighten security in the district.

The incidents underscored the threats to Afghanistan as it plans to hold general elections in September.

The balloting is viewed as a keystone in rebuilding the nation after a quarter-century of war.

About 20,000 U.S. troops, up from 11,000 a few months ago, are in Afghanistan to hunt down supporters of the former Taliban regime and their Al Qaeda allies, who have threatened to sabotage the polls.