General News
10/27/2009 12:46 PM ET
(RTTNews) -
Eight US soldiers were killed in multiple bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, making October the deadliest month of the war against terrorism for U.S. forces since it began in 2001.
An Afghan interpreter, working with NATO troops, was also killed in one of the attacks.
A statement by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said several service members were wounded in the attacks and were transported to a regional medical facility for treatment. It did not specify the locations of the incidents.
The deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), some of which were planted on routes of ISAF-convoys, it added.
Military officials said at least one of those bombs struck U.S. Army armored vehicles in Arghandab in the southern province of Kandahar.
One suspected insurgent was killed when the U.S. military retaliated with hellfire rockets, reports quoting officials said.
This is the second consecutive day of heavy casualties for U.S. military. Monday, 14 Americans, including 11 soldiers, were killed in separate incidents of helicopter crashes in that war-torn country.
With this, the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this month rose to 55. Before this, U.S. troop casualties were at its height in August, when 51 of them were killed in militant attacks.
2009 has been the deadliest year for American military since it began anti-Taliban operations in 2001.
So far this year, 438 foreign soldiers have died in Afghanistan, including 270 Americans, underlining reports that overall, Afghanistan is becoming more lethal for U.S. soldiers than Iraq.
The deaths come as U.S. President Barack Obama said he was not going to take a hurried decision on Washington's future strategy on Afghanistan.
The White House, debating a request for 40,000 more US troops to be sent to Afghanistan, warned recently that no more soldiers would be deployed until the political crisis in that country was resolved.
by RTT Staff Writer
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