KABUL - 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 battle, officials said Wednesday.
Troops at the combat outpost in 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 Mohammad Horya Khil, a senior commander of the Afghan National Army in Khost province, said 29 insurgents were killed. There were no casualties among NATO or Afghan troops, he said.
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 for support.
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Bodies and weapons on the field were being recovered, he said.
Separately, at least six Americans were among the dead in a helicopter crash Tuesday, officials said.
A NATO service member was killed Wednesday by a homemade bomb in southern Afghanistan.
NATO provided no further details, but the Danish military announced in Copenhagen that the bomb 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.
The death followed the crash of the 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 Zabul province, where the crash took place.
At least six Americans were among the dead, according to military officials and relatives.
Fort Campbell spokesman Rick Rzepka said five of the soldiers were assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, and that their families have been notified.
Family members say a sixth victim, a 30-year-old Navy man, was among those killed in the crash. The nationalities of the other three victims was not immediately clear.
US Toll in Afghanistan
1,184
Deaths
8,040
Wounded
Latest identifications
• Senior Airman Michael J. Buras, 23, of Fitzgerald, Ga.; assigned to the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
• Lt. (SEAL) Brendan J. Looney, 29, of Owings, Md.; assigned to a West Coast-based SEAL Team.
• Senior Chief Petty Officer David B. McLendon, 30, of Thomasville, Ga.; assigned to an East Coast-based naval special- warfare unit.
• Petty Officer 3rd Class (SEAL) Denis C. Miranda, 24, of Toms River, N.J.; assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL Team.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Adam O. Smith, 26, of Hurland, Mo.; assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL Team.
SOURCE: Department of Defense
