6 Americans Dead in Afghan Attacks

Six US troops and civilians were killed today along with an Afghan doctor in attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan. In the south, three US service members, two US civilians, and the doctor were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives near a convoy in Zabul province. Several other Americans and Afghans, possibly as many as nine, were wounded. Another American civilian was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said.

The attacks occurred the same day that US Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Afghanistan to assess the level of training that American troops can provide to Afghan forces after international combat forces withdraw next year. The deaths bring the number of foreign military forces killed this year to 30, including 22 Americans. A total of six foreign civilians have died in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an Associated Press count. (More Afghanistan stories.)