U.S. military convoy hit by car bomb
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A powerful car bomb exploded today as a U.S. military convoy passed by, and police officials reported at least four American soldiers were seriously wounded. A U.S. spokeswoman said that according to an initial assessment, one soldier was hurt.
A policeman at the scene, Tor Jan, and several witnesses told The Associated Press that two of the soldiers had died. Gen. Salim Khan, deputy police chief of Kandahar province, would not confirm that account.
"When our forces reached the scene of the explosion, they saw four American soldiers lying on the road covered in blood. They were seriously wounded," Khan said. "I do not know if any of them died."
The attack was one of several reported across southern Afghanistan late Thursday and today. More than 600 people, including soldiers, international workers and civilians, have died in violence in Afghanistan this year.
Master Sgt. Ann Bennett, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Kabul, confirmed that an explosion had occurred on the road right outside a joint military-civilian reconstruction team headquarters but said her initial report listed just one soldier wounded and one vehicle damaged.
It was impossible to immediately clarify the discrepancy, and the identity of the U.S. military unit hit in the attack wasn't disclosed.
A Taliban spokesman, Abdul Hakim Latifi, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
"We carried out the attack on the U.S. forces," he said in a satellite phone call to The Associated Press from an undisclosed location. "We have said it again and again that we will fight jihad against U.S. forces, their international allies and their Afghan supporters."