KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Taliban (search) attacked a convoy of U.S. and Afghan soldiers on patrol along a highway in southern Afghanistan (search) on Friday, triggering a shootout that killed an Afghan and an insurgent, police said.
No U.S. soldiers were hurt, said Ghulam Jilani, a deputy police chief. The Taliban fled the scene.
The attack occurred on the Kandahar-Kabul highway near the Spin Aghbarqa area in Zabul province, 70 miles northeast of Kandahar.
Jilani said police were investigating.
Attacks by Taliban on coalition forces and Afghan soldiers are common in Afghanistan, underscoring poor security in the region ahead of presidential elections set for Oct. 9.
Some 20,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, including 2,000 extra Marines stationed in the south of the war-ravaged country. The U.S. force is at its largest since the Taliban was ousted in 2001 for harboring Usama bin Laden.
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