Four American troops killed in Afghan roadside blast

A roadside bombing today in eastern Afghanistan killed four American troops, the US military said.

The troops’ armoured vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive in the Pech Valley, Kunar province, where they were patrolling to keep a road open to civilian and military traffic, military spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said in a statement.

Kunar Governor Asadullah Wafa said a remote-controlled mine exploded, hitting a convoy of American troops on patrol in the Watapur area of the province.

It was the deadliest attack on US forces in a month. On February 13, a roadside bomb killed four American troops travelling in an armoured vehicle in central Uruzgan province.

Yonts accused militants of launching “cowardly” attacks, placing bombs and detonating them from a distance.

Wafa said the explosion occurred at 4:15pm as a convoy of six American vehicles was passing.

No one has been arrested and Afghan police have cordoned off the area where the attack took place, Wafa said.

Today’s bombing raised the death toll of US personnel in and around Afghanistan to 220 since the US invaded the country in late 2001.

Militant supporters of the former Taliban regime have stepped up attacks in the past year. In 2005, about 1,600 people were killed in violence linked to the insurgency, the most since 2001.