US, Canadian soldiers die as Afghan violence surges

KABUL - The Taleban attacked a military base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing a US and a Canadian soldier and losing 32 of their own men, and declared a spring offensive had begun.

The two foreign soldiers and 12 Taleban were killed in the initial attack by a large Taleban force on the base in the southern province of Helmand, the US military said.

US-led forces, backed by aircraft, later attacked the Taleban forces as they were attempting to escape.

"In continuing fighting in Helmand Province, coalition forces killed 20 insurgents and destroyed two Taleban headquarters buildings," the US military said in a statement.

Caches of weapons, ammunition and bomb-making material, were seized in the captured buildings and blown up, it said.

Despite the rising violence, the United States is planning to trim its force of more than 18,000 troops in Afghanistan by several thousand, while NATO partners, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending about 6,000 more.

Some British troops are already based in Helmand and up to 3,300 will soon arrive. A spokesman for the force said he had no information on whether British troops were involved in Wednesday's fighting.

The Taleban, fighting to oust foreign troops and the Western-backed government, vowed more violence.

"The weather is warming and Taleban attacks on coalition and Afghan forces have begun," Taleban spokesman Mullah Mohammad Hanif said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Residents of the area, speaking by phone, said there had been civilian casualties, but a US military spokesman said troops had reported there had been no civilians in the Taleban compound or in surrounding villages.

"As we pursue and destroy the Taleban we expect him to lie and attempt to deflect the attention away from the fact that Taleban forces were soundly defeated," said senior US commander Major General Ben Freakley.

A Taleban commander said 10 of his men were killed when a bomb or missile struck their vehicle.

A roadside bomb in the same part of Helmand killed six Afghan soldiers on Tuesday and two policemen were killed in a raid on their post in Kandahar town, also in the volatile south, security officials said.

Twelve US soldiers have been killed in fighting this year. Nearly 60 Americans were killed in Afghan fighting last year, the worst for US forces since they invaded in 2001 to oust the Taleban from power.

Eleven Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed and 36 soldiers wounded.

Canada has 2,300 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, where it commands a multinational task force. As casualties have mounted some Canadians have begun questioning the mission and demanding a debate in parliament.

- REUTERS