Latest US deaths put focus on war policy

U.S. President Barack Obama warned earlier this year when he extended the American troop presence in Afghanistan that he did not support "the idea of endless war". Photo / Saul Loeb

Taliban attack that left six Americans dead a sign of deepening crisis in Afghanistan

A deeply conflicted United States President Barack Obama warned earlier this year when he extended the American troop presence in Afghanistan that he did not support "the idea of endless war". For Obama, the deaths of six US soldiers near Bagram airbase underscores the perils of his decision to keep as many as 9800 troops in Afghanistan through much of next year.

A war that Obama had pledged to end before he left office is now increasingly looking endless. That war followed him to his native Hawaii, where he is on a two-week holiday with his wife and daughters.

Last month, he lashed out at critics urging him to do more militarily in Iraq and Syria, saying he wouldn't send US forces into combat just to look "tough". "Part of the reason is because every few months I go to Walter Reed, and I see a 25-year-old kid who's paralysed or has lost his limbs, and some of those are people I've ordered into battle," Obama said.

The remarks prompted a backlash from some Republicans, who accused Obama of politicising American troops' sacrifices.

The most recent deaths, coming just before Christmas and a few months after Obama's decision to extend the longest war in US history, are likely to stick with the President.

His press secretary issued a statement: "The US condemns this cowardly attack on members of the US and Afghan forces, and we remain committed to supporting the Afghan people and their Government."

The Taliban attack killed six service members near Kabul, US officials said, in the latest sign of deepening violence across Afghanistan and the risks facing Obama's plan to leave the most intense fighting to local forces.

US military officials said the attack, the most deadly insurgent assault on American forces in at least three years, took place a few kilometres from Bagram, when a motorbike rigged with explosives detonated and hit a group of US troops attending a meeting with local figures.

The attack comes as the Afghan Government struggles to beat back a series of large-scale Taliban offensives and contain a nascent campaign by militants linked to Isis (Islamic State).

The Pentagon said the blast wounded two other US service members and a contractor. Three Afghan police officials were also injured.

In recent months, Afghan security forces have been overwhelmed by a series of militant offensives revealing the Government's vulnerability when it doesn't have substantial foreign firepower to support it.

It took local forces several weeks to reclaim Kunduz, a major city that was overrun by Taliban forces. This month, militants have mounted a deadly siege on an airport in the southern province of Kandahar and launched a suicide assault on a diplomatic complex in Kabul.

Yesterday, the group also said it had taken Sangin, a district of Helmand province that once symbolised the success of Obama's decision to send additional US forces in 2010.Washington Post - Bloomberg