Afghan attack kills 2 U.S. service members

updated 8:38 a.m. ET June 8, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan - Two U.S. forces were killed and another eight wounded in a mortar attack Wednesday at a base in eastern Afghanistan, the military said.

The attack occurred in eastern Paktika province near the border with Pakistan. The wounded were rushed to nearby U.S.-led coalition bases for treatment.

Initially, a military statement said only one service member had been killed, but spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O’Hara later raised the number to two, with eight wounded.

The mortar landed in the base near Shkin while the victims were preparing to unload supplies from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, the military said.

'A tragic loss for all of us'
Coalition aircraft were deployed to the area but could not locate the insurgents, the statement said.

“This is a tragic loss for all of us,” said Army Brig. Gen. James G. Champion, Combined Joint Task Force-76 deputy commanding general for operations.

The names of those killed were withheld until their families are notified.

After a winter lull, loyalists to the ousted Taliban regime and other militants opposed to the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai have ramped up their insurgency with bombings and other attacks.

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