Suicide Attack Kills Three NATO Soldiers in Afghanistan

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 5, 2018

ISLAMABAD — NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan announced Sunday three of its soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a combined, dismounted patrol with local forces.

An American service member and two Afghan National Army soldiers were also injured in the blast, the mission said.

“My thoughts and prayers, along with those of all of the 41-contributing Resolute Support nations, are with the families and friends of our fallen and wounded service members, and our injured Afghan brothers and their families,” said U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson, who commands the non-combatant mission and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The Resolute Support mission said it does not release the casualty’s nationality until it is released by the relevant national authority.

“Their sacrifice will endure in both our hearts and history, and further strengthen our resolve,” Nicholson said.

The NATO mission did not say where the attack took place. Just hours before NATO’s announcement, the Taliban claimed it carried out a “tactical blast” against an American military convoy in the Parwan province, nearly 60 kilometers north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the attack killed or wounded eight U.S. soldiers, though insurgent claims are often inflated.

Meanwhile, Islamic State has taken responsibility for Friday’s gun-and-suicide-bomb raid on a Shiite mosque in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia.

Police and hospital officials said the attack in the provincial capital of Gardez killed 35 worshipers and injured more than 90 others.

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