A militant attack in Afghanistan has killed three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition and their Afghan interpreter.
The coalition says the four died in a powerful blast in Wardak province Thursday.
June
has been an especially deadly month for soldiers battling Taliban
militants. At least seven foreign forces and two Afghan soldiers were
killed in the past four days alone.
The coalition says several
Taliban insurgents were killed Thursday in the southern provinces of
Kandahar and Zabul. Twenty-two others were killed Wednesday in Paktika
province
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says a 40 percent
rise in attacks by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan this year is a
matter of real concern. He says one reason for the increase is that
more fighters have been able to cross the border without facing
sufficient pressure from Pakistani troops.
On Tuesday, the
commander of U.S. and coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, Major
General Jeffrey Schloesser, said insurgent attacks have increased 40
percent since January.
Separately, Afghanistan has fired the
Kandahar police chief for negligence related to a massive jailbreak
earlier this month. The Interior Ministry said Thursday the deputy
police chief and the criminal investigation director also were fired
for the incident.
More than a thousand prisoners, including
about 400 Taliban militants, escaped Kandahar's main prison after a
suicide bomber blew open the gates.
Canada's government
announced Thursday it will give $4 million to rebuild the prison. Half
the funding will be used for urgent repairs resulting from the attack.
The remaining money will be used to upgrade the facility.
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