Western officials in Kabul say heavy fighting in the mountains of
northeastern Afghanistan has killed nine American soldiers and a large
number of Taliban militants.
Accounts of the clash on Sunday in Kunar province, near the Pakistani border, say it began with a dawn attack by militants on a small U.S. base at Wanat village and that a firefight raged throughout the day.
One unconfirmed report says "dozens" of Taliban insurgents died in the
battle. No official count of casualties on either side has been
released, due to continuing fighting, but it appeared to be one of the
deadliest assaults on U.S. forces since they entered Afghanistan in
late 2001.
In Helmand province today, military officials say U.S.-led coalition
forces killed at least 40 militants. And Afghan authorities say a
suicide attack in the south of the country killed at least 24 people,
most of them civilians.