Three U.S. soldiers injured in Taliban attack

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Three U.S. soldiers were wounded and three Afghan police officers killed when Taliban insurgents attacked an Afghan government building, authorities said.
Insurgents took two Afghan officials hostage during the attack Thursday at the Chamkani District government building in Paktia Province, said Master Sgt. Nicholas Conner, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force Troops. The hostages were the local head of Afghan intelligence service and the deputy governor of the district, The New York Times reported.
Afghan officials said no one was still being held hostage by the insurgents. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, said "we have taken over the district center."
Taliban leadership released a statement saying the attack was in reaction to NATO claims that Taliban attacks have declined by 8 percent during the first nine months of this year compared to 2010.
"If [NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh] Rasmussen and all his allies leave Afghanistan completely then the attacks on them will reach zero and he can propagate the notion even more and say that the number of Taliban attacks have fallen further," the statement read.
The United Nations reported in September Taliban attacks in Afghanistan had increased by 39 percent during the first eight months of the year.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/11/10/3-US-soldiers-injured-in-Taliban-attack/UPI-75571320974706/#ixzz1dQpbwkoI

Posted in: Afghanistan