US, Canadian soldiers die as Afghan violence surges

KABUL, Mar 29: Taliban insurgents attacked a military base in Afghanistan today, killing a US and a Canadian soldier while 32 of the attackers were also killed, the US military said.

Violence has intensified in Afghanistan in recent months and the Taliban have vowed to launch a spring offensive as part of their campaign to oust foreign forces and the Western-backed government.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the base in the southern province of Helmand and said their spring offensive had begun.

''In continuing fighting in Helmand Province, coalition forces killed 20 insurgents and destroyed two Taliban headquarters buildings,'' the U.S. military said in a statement.

The US military said 12 Taliban were killed in the initial attack and US-led forces, backed by aircraft, later defeated a large Taliban force that was attempting to escape.

US-led forces also captured two Taliban headquarters buildings and seized large caches of munitions, including bomb-making material, which they blew up, the US military said.

AFGHAN SOLDIERS, POLICE KILLED

A roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers on Tuesday in Helmand's Sangin district, and two policemen were killed in a raid on their post in Kandahar town, also in the volatile south, security officials said.

Twelve US troops have been killed in fighting this year. Nearly 60 Americans were killed in Afghan fighting last year, the worst for US forces since they invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban. A Canadian military spokeswoman said a Canadian was killed in and three were wounded, though not seriously, in today's battle. Eleven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed and 36 soldiers wounded since Canada first deployed soldiers in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Canada has 2,300 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, where it commands a multinational task force. As casualties have mounted some Canadians have begun questioning the mission and demanding a debate in parliament.

The Taliban vowed more violence.

''The weather is warming and Taliban attacks on coalition and Afghan forces have begun,'' Taliban spokesman Mullah Mohammad Hanif said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Fighting usually picks up in the Afghan spring when snow blocking mountain passes melts.

Despite the rising level of violence, the United States is hoping to trim its force of more than 18,000 troops in Afghanistan by several thousand, while NATO partners, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending about 6,000 more.

British troops are based in Helmand but a spokesman for the force said he had no information about Wednesday's fighting.

(Additional reporting by Sayeed Ali Achakzai and Sayed Salahuddin)

REUTERS