Seven US troops killed in Afghan blast

Seven US soldiers were killed, one was missing and three were injured in an explosion at an arms cache in Afghanistan today, the US Central Command said.

An Afghan interpreter was also injured in mid-afternoon blast near the city of Ghazni, 60 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul.

The explosion happened as the soldiers were working around the weapons cache, Centcom said in a statement.

The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a hospital at Bagram Air Base, headquarters for US-led coalition in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, the US death toll in the two-year war in Afghanistan reached 100.

Only 16 Americans died in the lightning war that drove the Taliban from power at the end of 2001 for providing a refuge and base for Osama bin Laden. The rest of the Americans have died since the Taliban’s defeat.

The total number includes deaths in other parts of Operation Enduring Freedom, such as a helicopter crash in the Philippines nearly two years ago that killed 10 American soldiers.

In November, five US soldiers died in a helicopter crash near the main US base at Bagram, north of Kabul, apparently due to mechanical failure.

The United States provides 9,000 of the 11,000-member coalition troops stationed in Afghanistan.