Insurgents attacked a NATO and Afghan army outpost in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border and at least 25 of the militants were killed in the resulting skirmish, officials said on Wednesday.
Troops at the combat outpost in Spera district of Khost province returned fire with mortars late Tuesday, killing 25 to 30 insurgents, NATO said in a statement. Initial reports found there were no civilian casualties, it said.
Gen. Raz Mohmmad Horya Khil, a senior commander of the Afghan National Army in the province, said 29 insurgents were killed. There were no casualties among NATO or Afghan troops, he said.
Gen. Horya Khil said the attack, coming from the Pakistan side of the border, was directed at the Mir Safar joint—NATO and Afghan army camp and lasted for more than two hours. Helicopters were called in to provide support.
Bodies and weapons on the field were being recovered, he said.
On Wednesday, a NATO service member was killed by a homemade bomb in southern Afghanistan.
NATO provided no further details, but the Danish military announced in Copenhagen that the bomb blast killed a Danish soldier and seriously injured another. The two members of the Royal Life Guards were on foot patrol in Helmand province when the bomb went off, it said.
Denmark has lost more than 30 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the coalition in 2002.
The Scandinavian country has more than 700 troops serving in the NATO—led force. Most are based in Helmand province.
The death followed the crash of a NATO helicopter in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday that killed nine NATO troops in the worst coalition helicopter crash in Afghanistan in four years.
This year has already become the deadliest of the Afghan war for international troops, surpassing last year’s total of 504 deaths.
The coalition would not disclose the helicopter’s mission, and the cause of the crash was not immediately clear. NATO said there were no reports of enemy fire at the time in the Daychopan district of Zabul province, where the crash took place.
However, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone that insurgents shot down the helicopter. The Taliban often exaggerate their claims and sometimes take credit for accidents.
A “large number” of Americans were among the dead, according to a senior military official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The father of a Clark County, Washington, soldier said his son was among the victims of the crash. Rod McClellan said that 26—year—old Army Chief Warrant Officer Jonah McClellan was among the dead. The younger McClellan was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the 101st Airborne; it was unclear if he was flying the helicopter that crashed.
A 30—year—old Navy man, David Blake McLendon, was also among those killed, said his sister, Kelly Lockman. She said he was a senior chief in Naval Special Warfare, stationed in Little Creek, Virginia. She says he trained with a Navy SEAL team but was not serving as a SEAL.
