A NATO convoy has been attacked in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, the alliance said, adding that the assault led to an unspecified number of casualties. Two US soldiers were among the dead, the Pentagon has confirmed.
The convoy was attacked on Wednesday afternoon on the outskirts of Kandahar city, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement. It noted that “the attack did cause casualties” without providing further details.
“Unfortunately, we don't have the confirmed number,” a mission representative confirmed in a statement to RT, while not specifying the nationalities of the persons killed or injured. “We do know that all of the wounded have arrived at a coalition medical facility and are receiving treatment.”
On Thursday afternoon, the Pentagon said two US soldiers were killed in the attack. They were not identified, pending the notification of their next of kin.
In the meantime, Kandahar police spokesman Zia Durrani told AFP that a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into the convoy.
"At around noon a car bomb targeted a convoy of foreign forces in the Daman area of Kandahar," he said.
The Taliban terrorist group, which has a heavy presence in the southern Afghan province, claimed the attack in a text message to the news agency. Local media also said the group announced it is behind the attack.
A total of 13,459 soldiers from 39 countries, including about 7,000 US troops, are currently contributing to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM). The mission is mainly focused on “training, assisting and advising” the Afghan forces, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In late June, Stoltenberg announced that the alliance would send “a few thousand more troops” to Afghanistan, without specifying the exact number of the new contingent. Washington was reportedly planning to deploy 4,000 troops in addition to its forces that are already part of the mission in Afghanistan.
The US forces mainly operate from an airfield located in Kandahar, while more than 300 marines and army soldiers are stationed in the neighboring Helmand province. The convoy hit in the attack was allegedly heading to the Kandahar airfield, according to the Afghan Tolo News.
The attack on the convoy came just a day after an assault that targeted a Shiite mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat. The assault claimed the lives of 20 people and left dozens injured. A week earlier, a massive blast rocked the Afghan capital, Kabul, leaving 35 people dead and 40 others injured.