U.S. Soldier killed, several American, NATO troops injured in series of attacks in Af

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U.S. Soldier killed, several American, NATO troops injured in series of attacks in Afghanistan
By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times - Monday, April 30, 2018
RE: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...istan-attacks/


An American service member was killed and a second was wounded during a combat mission in eastern Afghanistan, while several coalition troops were injured in a suicide bombing in the southern part of the country, top commanders in the country confirmed Monday.

In a pair of command statements from Kabul, officials from Operation Resolute Support — the NATO-led military adviser mission in Afghanistan — declined to provide details on the operation in eastern Afghanistan that ended with the American casualties or the nationalities of the coalition troops injured in the bombing in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.

The injured U.S. service member in the eastern Afghanistan attack was transported to Bagram Airfield, where he is listed in stable condition. The injured NATO troops in Kandahar were also listed in stable condition after being treated at a coalition facility, command officials said.

Several members of the Afghan security forces were also killed in the Kandahar attack, the officials said.

“My thoughts and those of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan are with the families and friends of our fallen and wounded service members,” said Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said in a statement on the American casualty.

“Their valiancy in battle, and that of the brave Afghan partners they fought alongside, will endure in our hearts and history,” he added.

The dual attacks coincided with a massive suicide bombing in Kabul on Monday, which ended with 25 civilians dead, including nine journalists. The initial blast, which took place during the bustling rush hour period in the city killed and wounded scores of individuals was followed by a second explosion by a suicide bomber disguised as a reporter on the scene of the initial attack.

Islamic State’s Afghan cell claimed credit for the Kabul bombings. No claim of responsibility was made on the attacks in Kandahar and eastern Afghanistan.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary James Mattis downplayed the recent spate of violence which rings in the annual fighting season in the war-torn nation.

Mr. Mattis characterized the bombings as lashing out by the Taliban and the Islamic State, who had suffered military and political setbacks in the face of a reinvigorated American air campaign and Afghan government’s unprecedented offer of unconditional peace talks with the Taliban.

White House national security officials are also supposedly backing an Afghan-led bid to pursue possible peace talks with the notorious Haqqani Network, alongside the Taliban, in an effort to end the 17-year war in the country.

Kabul’s intent to try and bring reconcilable elements from within the Pakistani-based terror group, which has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war in 2001, will not take away from Washington’s current strategy to pressure Islamabad to degrade or eliminate the Haqqani group.

Both efforts “kind of put them on the back foot, militarily and diplomatically,” Mr. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon Monday, noting such developments delayed the Taliban’s launch of this year’s fighting season.

The Pentagon chief was adamant Monday’s attacks was not an indication the U.S.-backed Afghan government was losing momentum in the war against the Taliban. “This should be completely expected. This is what they do,” he said.

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