Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Two U.S. soldiers killed, Afghan war heats up
Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:33pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Paul Tait
KABUL (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed two U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Sunday, the latest deaths in an escalation of violence that has put pressure on coalition leaders over their war strategy.
Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of British soldiers have been fighting major new offensives in the past 10 days in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and Afghanistan's biggest producer of the opium that funds the insurgency.
The assault by U.S. Marines, Operation Strike of the Sword, is the first major operation under U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan, which holds a presidential election on August 20.
It was launched with insurgency violence at its highest since the Taliban's austere Islamist government was ousted in 2001 by U.S. and Afghan forces for failing to hand over al Qaeda leaders wanted over the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Violence has flared again throughout Afghanistan since the operation began on July 2, with attacks in traditional Taliban strongholds in the south and east as well as in relatively more peaceful areas in the north and west.
The Taliban backlash has put pressure on leaders in Washington and London, who say U.S. and other NATO-led troops have pushed back Taliban insurgents but that a lot of tough fighting remains to be done during the summer.
Obama told Sky News on Saturday the United States and its allies would have to evaluate Afghanistan again after next month's election to see what other military or development steps might be needed.
THIRD SOLDIER DIES
The latest two soldiers to be killed by a roadside bomb died in Helmand on Saturday, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.
"The one attack in Helmand killed two Marines," said spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker.
The U.S. military earlier reported four Marines were killed but Sidenstricker said the same incident in Helmand had been reported twice to officials in Kabul.
A third soldier serving with NATO-led forces in the south died on Friday from wounds received in June, the alliance said in a statement issued on Sunday. No other details were available.
Washington is pouring in extra troops under Obama's new strategy, with numbers set to more than double to 68,000 by the end of the year. About 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops are already serving in Afghanistan.
British troops mounting their biggest operation of the campaign in Afghanistan have also suffered under the Taliban backlash, with 15 confirmed killed in a 10-day period, including five in two roadside bomb blasts on Friday.
Taliban casualty figures were not immediately available. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Heavy security in China's Xinjiang, stability urged
Also on Reuters
U.S. officials to prod China on climate change
Black culture lights up Broadway's Great White Way
"Bruno" fashions top spot at U.S. box office
More International News
Heavy security in China's Xinjiang, stability urged
Honduras lifts post-coup curfew, Zelaya vows return
| Video
Palestinians reject any Israel-U.S. settlement deal
Japan PM fights for job, eyes August 8 poll: report
Fighting kills at least 43 in Somali capital
More International News...
Video
Students die in Afghan blast
Play Video
More Video...
Related News
FACTBOX: Security developments in Afghanistan
09 Jul 2009
How dangerous is Lashkar-e-Taiba to the west?
09 Jul 2009
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Austrians say outrageous Bruno ist pretty funny | Video
Goldman Sachs profit bonanza could stoke anger
Heavy security in China's Xinjiang, stability urged
Taliban pushed back, long way to go: Obama
Americans swap homes for hotels as recession bites
Obama: Africa aid must be matched by good governance | Video
'Bruno' fashions top spot at U.S. box office
Long-awaited correction confronts Wall Street
How dangerous is Lashkar-e-Taiba to the west?
Sotomayor hearing opens Supreme Court debate
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Bosnia mourns Srebrenica victims.
Obama addresses parliament in Ghana
Hikers die in China flash flood
Many dead in Mogadishu fighting
Mexico drugs arrest sparks violence
Italian hostage freed
More talks for Honduras rivals
Ghanaian president welcomes Obama
Calm returns to Xinjiang streets
Pamplona bull runner dies
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.