Kandahar Attacks Kill Five NATO Soldiers

Deputy Mayor of Kandahar Also Wounded in Drive-By Shooting

At least five NATO troops were killed today in a pair of attacks in Kandahar Province, with four killed in a bombing and a fifth killed in fighting with insurgents. NATO offiials declined to release the nationality of any of the slain.

The attacks come as US-led forces are promising to seize control over the region around Kandahar City, the major offensive that is supposed to vindicate a massive escalation of the war that, so far, has netted only record death tolls.

Kandahar City’s deputy mayor Noor Ahmad Nazari was also reported seriously wounded today in a drive by shooting carried out by a pair of gunmen on motorcycles. A separate attack was also reported to have killed a member of the provincial parliament.

Nazari took the office in April, after his predecessor Azizollah Yarmal was assassinated in a mosque during prayers. Nazari is still in the hospital and it is unclear what his current condition is.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.