US soldier killed in Afghanistan bomb blast

KABUL: One US soldier was killed and three others were wounded in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore told AFP.

The casualties occurred during an armoured vehicle patrol in Shinkay district in the restive southern province of Zabul when an improvised explosive device detonated, Moore said.

Two of the soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar for treatment, the US military said in a statement. "One died of his wounds at Kandahar. The other is in critical but stable condition and was in surgery at 6:30pm (1400 GMT)," it added.

The critically wounded soldier is expected to be transferred to a US medical facility in Germany for further treatment while the other two soldiers hurt in the blast were treated at a US military base in Qalat in Zabul province. Both of them are listed in a stable condition, the statement said, adding that an investigation into the blast was underway. afp

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