7 US troops killed in Afghan blast

Thursday's blast near the town of Ghazni was one of the worst single blows to US forces hunting al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan since their intervention in late 2001

The explosion occurred when the troops were destroying a cache of weapons dating back to the war against the Soviets in the 1980s, according to the secretary to the provincial governor.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

"An American patrol was on a mission in Deh Ayen, in the Jaghatu district," Ahmad Jawid said.

"Villagers stopped the convoy and said there was an ammunition depot. The Americans went to evacuate the ordnance, which was stored there from the time of the Jihad (holy war).

"They began to destroy it. The incident happened when the person in charge of blowing it up made a mistake."

Ghazni is about 75 miles south of Kabul.

The US Central Command said in a statement the soldiers were killed when working near an ammunition dump Thursday afternoon. But it did not say whether it was an accident or an attack.

Islamic guerrillas led by a resurgent Taliban have stepped up attacks on foreign troops and the US-backed government since August. The militia claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Kabul this week that killed two foreign peacekeepers.

But when asked about Thursday's deaths, Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said the guerrillas were not responsible, although he added: "It is retribution from God. We are happy about whatever has happened in Ghazni."

US military officials in Afghanistan was not immediately available for comment.

In addition to the seven troops killed, US Central Command said another US soldier was missing and an interpreter was injured. Jawid said he knew of only one US soldier killed.

More than 100 US troops have died, most of them in accidents, since the launch of the US military's Afghan campaign, although some of the deaths occurred outside Afghanistan.

The US military leads a 12,000-strong foreign force in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban regime overthrown in 2001 and their al-Qaeda allies.

Guerrillas are most active in the south and east of Afghanistan, but two suicide attacks in Kabul this week killed one British and one Canadian soldier, both members of a multinational peacekeeping force in the capital.