U.S. military officers among dead in Kabul attacks
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. Defense Department officials have identified five U.S. soldiers, including a colonel and two lieutenant colonels, killed by a suicide bomb in Afghanistan's capital this week.
The Tuesday blast killed at least a dozen civilians, five U.S. troops and a Canadian service member, officials said. It occurred on a busy road near a NATO-led military convoy and a registration center for the Afghan Army.
The five U.S. soldiers are Col. John M. McHugh, 46, of New Jersey; Lt. Col. Paul R. Bartz, 43, of Wisconsin; Lt. Col. Thomas P. Belkofer, 44, of Ohio; Staff Sgt. Richard J. Tieman, 28, of Pennsylvania; and Spc. Joshua A. Tomlinson, 24, of Louisiana.
U.S. defense officials confirmed the five deaths, and Canadian forces confirmed the death of their service member. Local medical officials said at least 12 civilians were killed and 48 injured.
The British Foreign Office put the civilian death toll at 19.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed that five U.S. military vehicles were destroyed along with 13 civilian cars. One of the civilian cars was a bus filled with people, a spokesman said.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed the operation and said the attacker was able to "destroy five foreign vehicles and damage one more."
The U.S. Embassy decried the attack, saying it demonstrates the Taliban's "callous disregard for the well-being of the Afghan people."
CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.
Hunt them down and shoot them like the dogs they are! They killed servicemen in war, which is expected, but none-the-less saddens us. I pray for their families. But the Taliban didn't care who else got killed and many innocent civilians including women and children were killed...murdered by these Godless thugs. Find them, isolate them and kill them. Go get 'em boyz!!
http://politinform.at.ua/publ/rosija_ta_snd/v_cerkvi_kak_v_armii_chtob_k_utru_bylo_sdelano/3-1-0-177
"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." – Abraham Lincoln Rest in peace, brothers in arms. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Many thanks corporal, no one could have said this better and it expresses what a lot of good people are thinking and feeling.
The pain of these families resonates with all of us, both here and in Afghanistan. May we find a way to peace soon.
God1 you are an idiot. You have no idea how far out of the way we go to avoid killing civilians. Unlike the Taliaban who use children as sheilds. If you are really Gods warriors step out from behind the saety of your civilian sheilds. Put on a uniform so we know who you are and fight us. If Allah is on your side how could we win. Ohh wait Allah is not on the side of people that throw acid in the faces of girls who are trying to get an education. Allah is not on the side of cowards who use the mentaly ill as bombers. Allah hates the cowards in the Taliban and they know this. That is why they have to hide like the rodents they are. That is why they won't wear a uniform. They know that Allah wont protect them and will smile on their trip to hell. You want to kill the Great Satan kill your leaders who lie to you. Suicide Bombers are not marters. You think that if you kill your self to kill Americans Allah will welcome you into heaven. No he wont because at the moment you die in that blast you have done nothing but killed your self which is Suicde and is a sin in all major religions. You and all your maryters are sinners and may you long roast in hell like the pigs that you are!!
Now having said that God rest the souls of those all the Afghan, American, British, Canadian, German and all the other soldiers who died fighting to improve Afghanistan. No matter where they are from or what God they worship they are Gods choosen. They are Gods choosen because they sacrificed their lives to protect and defend those weaker than themselves. Rest in Peace!!