Seven US troops killed in Afghanistan

US soldier charged with murder of Afghans: official
Washington (AFP) June 7, 2010 - A US soldier has been charged with the murder of three civilians in Afghanistan and four others have been implicated but not charged in the crimes, a US army spokeswoman said Monday. Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, was charged Friday with premeditated murder and assault in three separate incidents that occurred between January to May 2010 in Kandahar province, said Lieutenant Colonel Tamara Parker. "There are five soldiers who have been implicated in the murders, but only one has been charged," she told AFP. The three civilians were murdered "at or near Forward Operating Base Ramrod," about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Kandahar in the country's fiercely contested south. The army would not say who the victims were or when and how the murders were carried out.

Parker said the circumstances surrounding the murders and other specifics would be withheld until the investigation into the role of the other soldiers was concluded. Morlock, who was with the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, was brought back to the unit's base in Fort Lewis, Washington where he was charged. He joined the army in June 2006 and deployed to Afghanistan in June 2009. The other soldiers, all of them enlisted service members, remained in Afghanistan under the jurisdiction of US Forces Afghanistan. The US military has made protecting the civilian population the focus of its counter-insurgency strategy against the Taliban. But high profile cases of civilian deaths in military operations have eroded Afghan support for the NATO presence and strained relations with the government of President Hamid Karzai.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) June 7, 2010
Seven US troops were killed in Afghanistan Monday, five of them in a single roadside explosion in the eastern part of the country, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

The Americans were among 10 NATO troops killed in a bloody day of roadside explosions and small arms fire.

Five US soldiers were killed in an improvised explosive device in eastern Afghanistan, another was killed in a separate IED attack, and the seventh by small arms fire in southern Afghanistan, said Lieutenant Colonel Beth Robbins.

earlier related report
French officer killed in Afghanistan: presidency
Paris (AFP) June 7, 2010 - A French non-commissioned officer was killed and three soldiers wounded in an anti-tank rocket attack by Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the French presidency said.

The presidency was unable to confirm whether the French casualty was one of the 10 NATO soldiers whose deaths were announced by the alliance earlier on Monday, one of its heaviest tolls suffered in a single day.

A member of the 2nd foreign parachutist regiment from Calvi on the French island of Corsica, the NCO was killed during a reconnaissance mission south of the Afghan town of Tagab, said a French statement.

Three of his comrades were injured in the operation, it said.

Armed forces spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said one of the surviving soldiers was in life-threatening condition, while the two others suffered lighter injuries.

President Nicolas Sarkozy offered his "most sincere condolences" to the officer's family, as well as to his military companions, the presidency statement said.

"He forcefully condemned this blind violence and expressed France's determination to continue working as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)," the statement added.

The latest victim was the 43rd French soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since the deployment of international troops in late 2001. France has some 3,500 soldiers deployed in the country.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
News From Across The Stans

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Turkish air force bombs Kurdish rebels in Iraq: TV report
Ankara (AFP) June 7, 2010
Turkish warplanes bombed several Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq on Monday, the NTV news channel reported, amid an upsurge in unrest between troops and the outlawed group. Six combat planes targeted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in Zap-Khakurk in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish zone, it said, citing the Internet site of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ... read more

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement