KABUL – Eight US troops were killed in southern Afghanistan yesterday ahead of a run-off presidential election, the Nato-led alliance said, in the deadliest month for US forces since the start of the war eight years ago.
The mounting violence comes as US president Barack Obama is weighing whether to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to fight a Taliban insurgency that is at its fiercest since 2001.
The eight US soldiers killed in bomb attacks pushed the October death toll to 53, topping the previous high of 51 deaths in August.
The Nato-led force said several soldiers were wounded in the attacks in the south, just a day after 11 US troops and three US civilians died in separate helicopter crashes.
The bombings also killed an Afghan civilian and wounded several service members.
Efforts to stabilise Afghanistan have been complicated by weeks of political tension over an election in August marred by widespread fraud in favour of the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, forcing a second round set for November 7th. – (Reuters)