One dead, eight injured in Afghan mortar attack

One US soldier was killed and another eight were wounded in a mortar attack at a base in eastern Afghanistan today, the US military said.

The attack occurred in eastern Paktika province near the border with Pakistan, the military said in a statement.

The wounded were rushed to nearby US-led coalition bases for treatment, it added.

The mortar landed in the base near Shkin while the victims were preparing to unload supplies from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, it said.

Coalition aircraft were deployed to the area but could not locate the insurgents, the statement said.

“This is a tragic loss for all of us. A US service member has paid the ultimate price for freedom, giving his life so that others might live in a nation free of tyranny and oppression,” said US Army Brig. Gen. James Champion, Combined Joint Task Force-76 deputy commanding general for operations.

The name of the dead service member was withheld until the person’s family is notified.

After a winter lull, loyalists to the ousted Taliban regime and other militants opposed to the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai have ramped up their insurgency with bombings and other attacks.