Grenade attack in Afghanistan kills 1, wounds 28

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – A hand grenade thrown at a police vehicle in eastern Afghanistan exploded in a crowd Tuesday, killing one civilian and wounding 28 others, officials said, a day after 10 foreign troops died amid escalating violence across the country.

The grenade attack in Khost province targeted policemen passing through the provincial capital, but the victims were mostly civilians, said Tahir Khan Sabari, the provincial deputy governor.

Four police and five children were among those wounded, said Abdul Majid Mangal, the deputy hospital director.

It was not clear who threw the grenade.

The attack happened a day after bombs and bullets killed seven American troops, while three NATO troops died in a helicopter crash in one of the deadliest days for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Four of the deaths Monday came in an attack on a team of U.S. military trainers in the relatively peaceful north, said Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, a U.S. military spokesman.

The deaths brought into focus the question of whether the U.S. is committing enough troops to secure a country larger than Iraq in both population and land mass. The Taliban have made a violent comeback after a U.S.-led coalition topped them from power nearly eight years ago.

Obama has ordered 21,000 additional American troops to this country, mainly in the south, where Marines recently launched a major anti-Taliban offensive. The U.S. expects 68,000 troops here by year's end, double last year's total but still half as many as are now in Iraq.

Two Americans were killed in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan, Naranjo said. Another American soldier died in a firefight with militants in the east, a U.S. military spokesman said. There were no further details on those incidents.

It was the deadliest day for American troops in Afghanistan since July 13, 2008, when 10 soldiers were killed.

Also in the south, two Canadian and a Briton serving with the NATO-led force were killed Monday when their helicopter crashed in Zabul province, said a spokesman for the military alliance, Lt. Commander Chris Hall.

The incident was not caused by insurgent fire, Hall said.