The melee broke out after an SUV, driven by US contract employees, was involved in a traffic accident that killed four Afghans, according to the capital’s criminal investigations chief, Abdul Ghaafar Sayedzada.
The US contractor, DynCorp International, confirmed that its employees, working on a program sponsored by the State Department, were involved in an accident on the main road to the Kabul airport. It said the workers, and other employees who arrived to help, were attacked by the crowd and their vehicles were burned.
US officials confirmed the latest American combat deaths but gave no further details. Five of the latest reported deaths were a result of hidden bombs — the insurgents’ weapon of choice — and the sixth was an armed attack, NATO said.
Commanders say American casualties are mounting because more troops are fighting, and the Taliban are stiffening resistance as NATO and Afghan forces challenge the insurgents in areas they can’t afford to give up without a fight.
Increased fighting around Kandahar is part of a NATO strategy to secure the city, the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace where support for the insurgency runs deep. US commanders have described Kandahar city as the key to controlling the Taliban’s southern heartland because of the city’s symbolic links to the insurgency.
As the United States and its allies step up pressure around Kandahar, Taliban resistance has also intensified in Helmand Province to the west and in Zabul Province to the east. Those three provinces account for roughly 70 percent of the US deaths this month.
British and Afghan troops launched a new offensive yesterday in the Sayedebad area of Helmand to try to deny insurgents a base from which to launch attacks in Nad Ali and Marja, the British military announced. Coalition and Afghan troops have sought to solidify control of Marja after overrunning the southern community five months ago.
