Newspapers are reporting that three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing, in Ghazni province, south of Kabul.
Three American soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a bombing in Afghanistan, the United States military said, in the worst loss of life in the country for the United States this year. Three other soldiers and an American contractor were wounded.
The deaths took place near Ghazni City, in the southeastern province of the same name, from the detonation of a roadside bomb, the military said in a statement. A witness said the bomb went off as an American convoy passed on the highway.
“The convoy set off a roadside mine, and there was smoke all over the place. It nearly took our lives, too,” said the witness, Haji Abdulamin, a local resident. “The road was blocked, and a few minutes later helicopters landed and took the dead.”
A taxi driver named Hamed who was on the highway said he saw an American vehicle that had been destroyed by the bomb. “The situation was not good, and the helicopters were bombing the area,” he said. “I think six or seven Taliban were killed too.”
3 U.S. Soldiers Killed by Explosion in Afghanistan, Nesar Azadzoi and Rod Nordland, New York Times
U.S. military officials said the attack Tuesday took place during a military patrol near Ghazni city, which has remained tense and unstable since Taliban forces overran it in August in a four-day siege that left more than 100 people dead and parts of the city in ruins.
Aref Noori, a spokesman for the Ghazni governor’s office, said a joint military operation by Afghan and NATO troops had been underway in a village southeast of Ghazni city Tuesday morning when the bomb struck an armored military vehicle carrying foreign forces.
In the past several weeks, the insurgents also have launched assaults on villages in rural districts of the province that are populated by minority ethnic Hazara Shiites. The attacks sent thousands of residents fleeing to nearby provinces.
Roadside bomb kills three U.S. troops near Afghan city of Ghazni, Pamela Constable and Dan Lamothe, Washington Post
Other NATO allies, such as the Czech Republic and Romania, also contribute troops to the conflict and have suffered from the insurgents' use of IEDs.
More than 50 people were killed last week, in a suicide bombing of a religious gathering held at one of the large wedding halls in Kabul.
Witnesses said there were a thousand people inside the hall when the explosion took place. They included clerics and religious scholars along with others who had gathered to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, a national holiday in Afghanistan.
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Shamsul Dua, 50, an ice cream vendor, emerged from the hall with his hands, feet and clothing covered in blood. He said the explosion took place seven or eight minutes after the gathering began.
“I could only see smoke, and debris started falling from the ceiling,” he said. “I personally saw 30 or 40 dead.” Mr. Dua said he had ridden 40 minutes on his bicycle to attend the gathering, which was held at the hall annually.
It was 40 minutes before ambulances arrived to evacuate many of the wounded, he said. Ambulances were seen still coming and going from the wedding palace an hour after the blast, which took place about 6:15 p.m.
“We are still trying to figure how many were killed and how many were wounded,” Mr. Majrooh said.
At Least 55 Killed in Bombing of Afghan Religious Gathering, Rod Nordland and Mujib Mashal, New York Times
The birthday of Muhammad is celebrated by Muslims around the world, but extremists believe marking it is sacrilegious.
Afghanistan suicide bomber kills scores of Muslim scholars, Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian
On Saturday, a U.S. service member was killed in Nimruz province, in the far southwest of the country. Generally, very little news from there makes our newspapers.
Reporting today, from a U.S. military statement, attributes the death to a close quarters friendly fire accident by Afghan government forces.
A U.S. Army Ranger's death in Afghanistan this weekend while fighting al Qaeda militants was likely the result of accidental friendly fire from the Afghan forces he was accompanying, according to the NATO-led training mission in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Leandro Jasso was killed Nov. 24 in Nimroz Province in western Afghanistan during a joint U.S-Afghan assault on al Qaeda positions, officials said.
"An initial review indicates Sgt. Jasso was likely accidentally shot by our Afghan partner force, said a statement from Resolute Support, the name for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. "There are no indications he was shot intentionally."
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"Early interviews indicate the tragic accident occurred when the partnered force became engaged in a close-quarter battle during an assault on one of multiple barricaded al Qaeda shooters," the statement added.
US Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan likely died from friendly fire, Luis Martinez, ABC
Yesterday, the New York Times reported an investigation of American and Czech forces, for the death-in-custody of an Afghan government soldier, Wahidullah Khan, who was, being careful, alleged to be the shooter who opened fire on Czech soldiers last month, killing one.
Officials said Mr. Khan, 19, opened fire on Oct. 22 on a group of Czech soldiers at Shindand air base, a sprawling facility in Herat Province in western Afghanistan. The attack killed Cpl. Tomáš Procházka and wounded two other Czech soldiers.
Within hours, Mr. Khan was arrested by Afghan troops and was taken into custody by Western forces, Afghan officials said. By the time he was returned to Afghan forces, around midnight, he had been beaten and was unconscious, the Afghan officials said.
Mr. Khan died a short time later.
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A picture of Mr. Khan after his death was given to The New York Times by his family. It shows extensive blunt force trauma to Mr. Khan’s face and head, according to James Gill, the chief medical examiner for the state of Connecticut, whom The Times asked to examine the photo.
U.S. and Czech Troops Investigated for Death of Afghan Prisoner, Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Mujib Mashal, New York Times
On Sunday, the New York Times reported on the potential delay of the presidential elections scheduled for next April. There is considerable political maneuvering going on around the election now, so this report should not be considered the final word.
Election officials in Afghanistan are considering delaying next year’s presidential election by several months, amid disarray in counting votes from last month’s parliamentary balloting.
Holding presidential elections by April 20 was previously one of international donors’ red lines in Afghanistan, especially after an embarrassing four-year delay in holding parliamentary elections.
Now, however, some politicians and observers are suggesting that the electoral fiasco might help encourage peace talks with the Taliban, who are unlikely to agree to a deal if a new president is about to be elected for a five-year term.
Afghanistan Considers Delaying Presidential Election, Rod Nordland and Fatima Faizi, New York Times
Two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal had reported that the Trump administration was considering pressuring the Afghan government into delaying the election.
The Trump administration is discussing whether to press the Afghan government to suspend coming presidential elections, according to people briefed on the discussions, as the U.S. seeks to engage the Taliban in talks to end the 17-year war.
U.S. Considers Asking Afghanistan to Suspend Presidential Election, Jessica Donati, Craig Nelson, and Dion Nissenbaum, Wall Street Journal
Afghanistan Analysts network had a number of detailed reports on voting in the parliamentary election held in October.
The Taliban recently had acknowledged talks with a U.S. representative, the power broker Zalmay Khalilzad.
The Taliban have held three days of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the Afghan insurgent group has a political office, a Taliban official and another individual close to the group said Sunday.
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A third individual with knowledge of the discussions said the Taliban pressed for a postponement of next year’s presidential elections and the establishment of an interim government under a neutral leadership. Abdul Sattar Sirat, an ethnic Tajik and Islamic scholar, was suggested as a candidate to lead an interim administration.
The individual, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said Khalilzad wants to reach a settlement within six months, a timescale the Taliban said was too short.
Taliban hold talks with US envoy in Qatar, Kathy Gannon, Associated Press