Wire: 5 US Troops Among 50 Killed in Afghan Violence

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 2009 -- Newswire services this afternoon reported that around 50 civilians, security force members, and militants were killed in a wave of violence around Afghanistan, including a bomb attack that left 14 Afghan travelers dead. Five American soldiers died in two attacks using roadside bombs.

The attacks Friday and Saturday reached across the country, demonstrating the spread of a resurgent Taliban.

The Associated Press said half of those killed in the most recent attacks were civilians, who often find themselves caught in the fighting between the Taliban and U.S. and NATO forces.

Bombs caused most of the casualties, AP said, including homemade blasts in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and a neighboring province that together killed 20 civilians.

A roadside bomb and gunfire attack in western Afghanistan killed three Americans, while another roadside bomb killed two Americans in the east, said Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, a spokesman for the U.S. military command in Kabul. No other details were available.

(Report from newswire sources.)

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