Two US soldiers killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan
Latest attack comes amid stalled efforts to restart peace talks
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two US soldiers have been killed and two others injured in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, the United States military has said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which an Afghan official said happened in the Dand district of Kandahar province in the south of the country.
The US military did not immediately identify those killed.
More than 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks. Another 20,000 have been wounded.
The latest attack comes amid stalled efforts to restart peace talks.
In November Donald Trump made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops at Bagram airbase, his first trip to Afghanistan.
While there he held talks with Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, and said he was looking to hold talks with the Taliban, three months after abruptly declaring that he had withdrawn a previously unannounced invitation to Taliban leaders to meet him at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
That followed the killing of a US soldier in a Taliban attack.
He said: "We say it has to be a ceasefire and they didn't want to do a ceasefire and now they want to do a ceasefire, I believe. It will probably work out that way."
At the time the Taliban said it was interested in holding talks.
Last week there were reports that the radical Islamist group was discussing a possible ceasefire, which the US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been pressing for.
A break in fighting would give a window in which the US and the Taliban could then forge an agreement to withdraw all of America's troops.
However, the latest US military deaths will provide a fresh obstacle to the resumption of talks.
AP contributed to this report
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments