US soldier killed in Afghan fighting

KABUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) An American soldier has been killed in fighting in Afghanistan, the US military said today, as the Taliban step up attacks at the start of a spring offensive.

The soldier was killed yesterday in the eastern province of Kunar, bordering Pakistan, the US military said in a statement.

It gave no further details of the incident in a province which is a bastion for the Taliban and their Islamic allies.

After several months of a lull in fighting due to the harsh Afghan winter, the Taliban have resumed attacks against government forces and Western troops in the south and east.

More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in violence in Afghanistan last year, the bloodiest period since a US-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

The Taliban say they are gearing up for a spring offensive while the coalition and NATO troops are readying for their own offensive in what analysts say will be a crunch year in the war to quell a strengthening insurgency.

REUTERS SY SSC1255