Irish US soldier killed in Afghanistan

AN IRISHWOMAN serving with the US Army in Afghanistan has been killed while on duty.

Ciara Durkin, 30, originally from Eanach Mheáin in Connemara, died on Thursday but the details of how she was killed have not yet been released to her family. She had been living in Boston, having moved there with her family in 1986.

Durkin was assigned to Afghanistan as part of a finance unit that deployed to the country in November 2006.

National Guard officials offered few other details about Durkin’s death. They said the incident is under investigation.

Massachusetts National Guard Adjutant General Joseph Carter called Durkin’s death a tragedy and said the National Guard’s thoughts and prayers were with her family and fellow soldiers.

Carter also said Durkin’s family requested privacy.

Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office said yesterday that there is “serious debate” among some Taliban fighters about laying down arms, while a spokesman for the militants said they will “never” negotiate until foreign troops leave.

Clashes and airstrikes, meanwhile, killed 16 people, capping a week that saw more than 270 people die in insurgency- related violence.

President Karzai said on Saturday he would be willing to meet personally with Taliban leader Mullah Omar and give militants a position in government in exchange for peace. But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi repeated a position he announced earlier this month, saying there would be no negotiations until US and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

“The Taliban will never negotiate with the Afghan government in the presence of foreign forces,” Mr Ahmadi told the Associated Press.

But President Karzai’s spokesman said the government has information of a “serious debate” in some groups of Taliban about how long militants want to continue fighting. The UN and NATO have also said they see similar indications.

“There is serious debate within their ranks, but this is a process that takes time,” he said.