A U.S. soldier and an Afghan interpreter were killed when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle in Afghanistan in the latest spate of violence involving Taliban guerrillas.

The two were in a convoy re-supplying U.S.-led forces during an operation against militants in the central province of Uruzgan when the incident happened on Tuesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The death of the soldier brings the number of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan this year as a result of hostile action to nearly 60, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001.

Taliban fighters have launched a string of attacks, including bomb attacks, in southern and eastern areas in recent weeks after failing to disrupt legislative elections in September.

Taliban Claim Killing Indian

A purported spokesman for the Taliban said on Tuesday the group had killed an Indian roadworker they kidnapped at the weekend, but authorities could not confirm the claim.

The Indian national had been killed as there had been no response to a 48-hour deadline issued by the Taliban for the road construction company he worked for to leave Afghanistan, purported spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said. The deadline expired at 1330 GMT on Tuesday.

Ahmadi offered no evidence to support his claim. Men who say they speak for the Taliban often call the media to claim attacks and other incidents of violence, but their information has not always been correct.

“Today at 6pm we killed the Indian roadworker with Kalashnikov shots, based on our earlier ultimatum,” Ahmadi said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location.

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