US troops killed in gun fight with Taliban

Two US troops and one Afghan soldier have been killed and three US soldiers wounded, in a battle with Taliban rebels in eastern Afghanistan.

A US-led coalition statement said the coalition and Afghan troops were patrolling in the troubled Pech district of eastern Kunar province late Monday when they "made contact with enemy extremists".

"The unit engaged the insurgents with small arms and artillery fire," it said.

The coalition said the wounded soldiers were evacuated to a US treatment facility in the provincial capital Asadabad and were reported to be in stable condition.

Kunar is east Afghanistan's most troubled province and shares a long, porous border with Pakistan. Over 7,000 US-led coalition and Afghan troops are currently taking part in Operation Mountain Fury in eastern Afghanistan.

On September 8, two US soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the US embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul, which also claimed the lives of 14 Afghans, mainly civilians.

There are around 20,000 coalition troops in addition to 20,000 NATO-led forces fighting alongside Afghan police and the army against remnants of Taliban, who have dramatically stepped up attacks this year.

- AFP