Agence France Presse  --  Arab News

KABUL, 17 May 2004 — A US soldier was killed and another two injured when their combat patrol was attacked in violence-wracked southern Afghanistan, a US military spokeswoman said yesterday.

“A coalition convoy was attacked on Saturday near Gereshk” in southern Helmand province, Lt. Col. Michele DeWerth told AFP. “One US soldier was killed; two soldiers were injured and returned to duty,” she said without elaborating. A militiaman was detained at the scene, she said.

In a separate incident in eastern Kunar province, a US base came under rocket attack in Asadabad about 180 kilometers northeast of Kabul on Saturday, a local official said.

“Two rockets were fired over the American base but fell outside of it,” provincial government official Mohammed Yusuf told AFP.

American and coalition soldiers and marines come under regular attack in Afghanistan, along with aid workers and those working on upcoming presidential elections which Taleban and others have threatened to disrupt.

The top US military commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, has warned that the country’s south is experiencing an upswing in suspected Taleban violence.

An Afghan-commanded border checkpoint allegedly came under fire from Pakistani troops conducting their own increased surveillance on the other side, an official told AFP Sunday.

Meanwhile, UN’s special envoy Jean Arnault told AFP Afghanistan’s overall progress toward democracy and stability was “insufficient” and disarmament needed to be accelerated for peace in the country to last.