October 28, 2008	Tuesday	Shawwal 28, 1429

KABUL, Oct 27: A US military helicopter was forced to land after it was damaged in firing by militants in Wardak province of Afghanistan on Monday, while a suicide bomber killed two American soldiers at a police compound in Baghlan.

The 10 crew members aboard the helicopter were rescued and troops were recovering the aircraft, said a US military spokesman. There were no US casualties, he said.

“The helicopter crew exchanged fire with the enemy before the damage brought the helicopter down,” he said.

At least four militants were killed, said Fazel Karim Muslim, the chief of Sayed Abad district.

Another helicopter hovered as US troops secured the area around the downed chopper which did not appear to have sustained major damage, he said. In Baghlan’s capital Pul-i-Khumri, a suicide bomber wearing police uniform blew himself up at a police station, killing two American soldiers, an Afghan policeman and a child, officials said.

The bomber entered the police station while Afghan officials were meeting US troops advising a police training programme, provincial police chief Gen Abdul Rahman Sayed Kheil said. The blast killed two American soldiers who were beside a Humvee, news footage of the scene showed.

US forces in Afghanistan confirmed that two “service members” from the US-led coalition were killed and three were wounded.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the blast. He said the bomber’s name was Abdul Had and he was from Baghlan.

A bomb in western Afghanistan blew up a military vehicle and a coalition soldier died of injuries after the blast.

The interior ministry said Taliban had kidnapped 17 road construction workers in Kunar on Sunday. It said the kidnappers were supporters of Mullah Nasrullah. Three of the workers had been released, it said. Police said eight Afghan employees of a private road construction company were killed in international air strikes in Ghazni at the weekend.—Agencies