Taliban Ambush Patrols, Killing 8 Afghans

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QALAT, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban fighters attacked a government checkpoint and ambushed another group of Afghan soldiers along the main road linking the south with the capital, killing at least eight soldiers, Afghan officials said Monday.

The attacks came a day after two U.S. soldiers were killed in a 90-minute gunbattle with insurgents in eastern Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan. Four suspected Taliban were killed in that fighting.


Guerrillas from the former radical Taliban regime recently have appeared to regroup, launching bolder attacks against Afghan government targets. Four U.S. soldiers have been killed during fighting in less than two weeks.


The attacks on the Afghan soldiers, both near the southern Zabul province mountain range that has been the site of a week of fierce skirmishes, appeared to be an attempt by the insurgents to distract government forces from the main battle, said Khalil Hotak, the provincial intelligence chief.

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In all, 35 U.S. soldiers have been killed and 162 wounded in action in Afghanistan, the military said.