U.S. Soldier Killed as Troops Engage Militants in Afghan Offensive

Dec. 5: U.S. Marines escort new Afghan National Police officers to their base in Khan Neshin in the province of Helmand, southern Afghanistan. (AP)

KABUL – A U.S. service member was killed by a bomb planted in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said Sunday.

The American died Saturday while on foot patrol, Sgt. Angela Eggman said. She did not provide further details.

Meanwhile, a NATO airstrike early Sunday killed six militants who were planting bombs along a road in eastern Laghman province, U.S. military spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said.

In southern Afghanistan, about 1,000 U.S. Marines and 150 Afghan troops continued an operation to disrupt Taliban supply and communications lines in the strategic Now Zad Valley of Helmand province.

Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier said Sunday that clearing operations yielded a few weapons caches and troops engaged insurgents around Changowlak, just north of Now Zad, in an area known as a Taliban stronghold.

Shanks said the Now Zad push was one of many operations being carried out in Afghanistan, rather than a major offensive. "We have 22 similar operations ongoing throughout the country," he said.

No Afghan or U.S. casualties have occurred since the operation began Friday. The Afghan Defense Ministry reported over the weekend that at least seven Taliban fighters had been killed and troops had confiscated explosives and weapons.