US drone attack kills 2 Americans

Two American soldiers have been killed in a US drone attack in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 121 the number of foreign troops killed in the war-torn country in 2011.
The friendly fire incident killed Marine Staff Sergeant Jeremy Smith, 26, and Navy Corpsman Benjamin Rast, 23, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to a US military official, quoted in a Reuters report on Monday.

The two US soldiers were reportedly targeted after being mistaken for Taliban militants, the report added.
The US military has launched an investigation into the incident in Helmand, a province that that is considered to be one of Taliban’s major strongholds in Afghanistan.
The incident marks the first friendly-fire killing of US forces involving the remote-controlled pilotless aircraft deployed by the American military in war-torn Afghanistan, supposedly to target hard-to-reach Taliban leadership and command centers.
The United States has boosted the number of unauthorized drone attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past months.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and many others sustained injuries in such aerial strikes as well as US-led military operations in the war-ravaged country since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began in 2001.
In February, a US drone strike on a convoy of Afghan civilians in Helmand claimed the lives of more than 20 people including women and children.

Taliban: 12 French, 20 American soldiers killed
The spokesmen of Taliban have claimed that Taliban fighters killed more than 12 French soldiers in Kapisa province of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile more than 20 US soldiers lost their lives in different attacks in Kandahar, Logar and Badghis provinces.
Reports say that a Taliban fighter blew up his explosives vest in the middle of the invaders foot patrol, killing 8 and fatally wounding 7 others in Zhiri district of Kandahar. The barbaric invaders blindly shot into the surrounding areas in retaliation, wounding 4 innocent civilians.
At least three Afghan soldiers were killed during fighting followed by an offensive by the enemy backed the by the so-called ISAF airstrikes that continued for about 3 hours on Tuesday, while the enemy’s attack was repelled, Zabihullah Mujahid added.
Another statement adds that Taliban have killed more than 20 NATO-led soldiers and their local puppets over the past 24 hours in the very area.

Source: Agencies