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Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 34 dead, one a U.S. soldier

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 21, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Militants hiding in a vineyard and armed with machine guns ambushed an Afghan army convoy Saturday, shooting dead four soldiers but losing 15 of their own. Violence elsewhere killed another 15 people - including two French troops and a U.S. soldier.

The 34 deaths came amid some of the worst fighting in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 and reinforced fears of a resurgence of Islamic extremists.

A 24-hour spasm of violence killed some 120 people earlier this week, before calming briefly. It erupted again Friday with six militants, an Afghan soldier and a civilian killed in Helmand province, the main opium poppy growing region, where drug profits are believed to fund the insurgency, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, military commander for the south.

Hours later in the same area, insurgents crouching among fields of grapevines and wheat opened fire on a half-mile-long convoy of Afghan army trucks as they snaked their way slowly along a dirt road with reinforcements, he said.

The two sides exchanged fire with machine-guns and AK-47 assault rifles for six hours before the insurgents fled on foot and motorbikes, the general said.

When it was over, 15 rebels and four soldiers lay dead, the Associated Press reported, citing an unidentified army officer.

The U.S. soldier was killed Friday in Uruzgan province, also in the south, the military said in a statement. Six soldiers were wounded and in stable condition.

Lt. Tamara Lawrence, a U.S. military spokeswoman, said the U.S. soldiers were conducting a joint patrol with Afghan forces when they encountered enemy fighters about 10 a.m. Friday.

At least 235 members of the U.S. military have died in and around Afghanistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

[Last modified May 21, 2006, 07:59:32]