By ANTARA News,
Kabul : A new US Marine force that began deploying in Afghanistan last month said Thursday it had suffered the first casualties since it began operations in country, losing two soldiers in a bomb blast.
The 2,300-strong US Marine Expeditionary Unit confirmed that two soldiers, whose deaths were announced on Wednesday by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), belonged to the unit.
“We lost two Marines on the 16th of April early in the morning in Kandahar,” a spokeswomen for the newly deployed force, captain Kelly Frushour, told AFP, referring to southern Kandahar province.
The soldiers were attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which began operations in southern Afghanistan on April 10.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the explosion, but similar acts in the past have been blamed on Taliban militants.
The unit was Washington`s recent contribution to ISAF, which is fighting the growing Taliban insurgency here.
Since the start of 2008, 42 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.