The Associated Press reported that all nine were Americans. Mark Laity, a spokesman for NATO, confirmed that nine soldiers had been killed and 15 more wounded, but did not give their nationality. Four Afghan soldiers also were wounded, he said.

The Taliban assault on the base was the deadliest single attack on the NATO force, known as ISAF, in several years..

The American commander of ISAF, Gen. David D McKiernan, said in an interview Sunday afternoon that Taliban insurgents had mounted the attack and that fighting was continuing, but he did not give details on casualties.

The attack was the worst of several reported on Sunday in Afghanistan, including a suicide bombing that killed 25 people, 20 of them civilians, in the central part of the country. They add to a asualty count that has already made 2008 the deadliest year in Afghanistan since the United States-led military intervention in 2001. Casualties of American and allied troops for the last two months have been higher than those inflicted in Iraq over the same period. Nearly 700 Afghan civilians were killed in the first five months of the year, a marked increase on previous years, United Nations officials have said.

General McKiernan, who commanded allied land forces during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and took over command in Afghanistan in June, said that there were several reasons for the increase in violence this summer. He described the spring and summer as the “high season” for fighting.

The violence in 2008 was certainly greater than in the same period in 2007, and 2007 was worse than 2006, he said. NATO officials have said that attacks on its forces have increased by 40 percent from the same period last year.

The general said there were three main reasons: a tactical shift by the insurgents toward smaller attacks on more vulnerable targets, like civilian marketplaces, local government centers and convoys; inroads made by Afghan and NATO forces in regions previously controlled by the Taliban; and the “deteriorating situation with tribal sanctuaries across the border” in Pakistan. Roadside bombs are now causing 80 percent of ISAF casualties, according to one NATO official.

To read this complete Fred Harteis News Article visit our news partner at: