Taliban kills four Afghans

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban guerrillas riding in a fleet of vehicles shot up a government office in southern Afghanistan, killing four Afghan soldiers, an official said Sunday. One gunman also was killed.

The attack came just hours after an explosion killed four special forces traveling in a Humvee, one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. troops trying to stop resurgent militants from wrecking planned national elections.

The Taliban militiamen swept into Musa Qala, a market town 150 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, late Saturday, opening fire on the office with assault rifles and heavy machine guns, Mayor Mullah Amir Aghunzada said.

Four of the 30 soldiers defending the compound were killed and eight others were wounded, Aghunzada said. One Taliban fighter was also killed and four were captured, three of them wounded.

The official said about 100 Afghan troops rushed from the provincial capital, Lashkargah, and began combing the area for the attackers Sunday.

"There is some support for them in this area," Aghunzada said. "They live up in the mountains and come down at night."

The four American special forces soldiers perished Saturday about 20 miles east of Qalat, the capital of southeastern Zabul province.

"An explosive device detonated under the (Humvee) the four were traveling in," spokeswoman Lt. Col. Michele DeWerth said.

The toll was one of the worst for a single attack on the U.S.-led coalition force, which currently numbers a record 20,000, since it entered Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in late 2001.

DeWerth gave no more details.

At least 89 American service members have died in and around Afghanistan since the start of the U.S. war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. Fifty-five of them were killed in action.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright