US troops killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN // A roadside bombing killed two US service members in northern Afghanistan today, officials said, pushing the death toll among American troops so far this month to 30. The attack occurred in the Baghi Shirkat area, about 30 kilometres west of Kunduz city, said Kunduz provincial government spokesman, Muhbobullah Sayedi. The troops were in a vehicle that hit a roadside bomb, he said.

US forces spokesman Lt Col Joseph T Breasseale confirmed the deaths but did not provide further details. US and Afghan forces conducted an operation early today in Baghi Shirkat in which 12 militants were killed, including two local Taliban commanders, Mr Sayedi said. June is shaping up to be one of the deadliest months for US troops in the nearly nine-year-old Afghan war, as insurgents have stepped up attacks in response to a Nato push into Taliban strongholds in the south.

The deadliest month for US troops in Afghanistan was October 2009, when 59 Americans died, including seven soldiers killed in a single clash near Kandahar and seven who died in a helicopter crash in the northwest not caused by hostile fire. * AP