Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Articles
Violence in Afghanistan has left four US soldiers and more than a dozen others dead.
The Americans, members of the 40-nation International Security Force (Isaf), were killed in two roadside bomb attacks in eastern Afghanistan on Monday.
"Four International Security Assistance Force service members were killed as a result of two improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in eastern Afghanistan today," an Isaf statement said.
The statement did not specifically say where the attacks took place but an anonymous Isaf official said that they occurred in Wardak, a province west of Kabul, the capital.
Mohammad Hanif Hanifi, the senior government official in Nirkh district in Wardak, said a US vehicle was struck by an IED in a village at about 6pm (1330GMT) - a time that forces routinely undertake patrols.
The second US patrol hit a device 15 to 20 minutes later, he said.
A helicopter subsequently arrived to evacuate casualties, Hanifi said.
In other incidents on Monday, four Afghan policemen were killed when the Taliban attacked a security post near the town of Kunduz in the north.
About 3,000 US soldiers have moved into Wardak and Logar, two provinces which adjoin Kabul, in recent months in order to quell increasing opposition attacks before the August 20 elections.
US military officials said that they expected a 50 per cent rise in IED attacks this year in response to the increased troop numbers.
A total of 64 US personnel have now been killed this year, up from 34 soldiers in the first five months of last year.
Fighters killed
But opposition groups also suffered losses according to the US military, who said in various announcements that they had killed 11 fighters in different air raids and clashes in Wardak and Ghazni in the east and in the central province of Uruzgan.
Violence in Afghanistan has increased during the past three years to its highest level last year since the 2001 US-led invasion.
US President Barack Obama is sending more than 20,000 additional soldiers to the country.
PHOTO CAPTION
US soldiers pay their respects during a ceremony at Bagram air base, about 50 kms north of Kabul on May 25, 2009.
Al-Jazeera
