Explosion in Afghanistan Kills 7 U.S. Soldiers and Injures 3
    By Kirk Semple
    The New York Times 
    Thursday 29 January 2004 

     Seven American soldiers in Afghanistan were killed and three were injured in an explosion today in one of the single most-deadly incidents involving American forces there, the United States Central Command said. 

     An interpreter was also killed in the explosion and another American soldier has been missing since the incident, which occurred near Ghazni around 3 p.m. local time, about 60 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, the military reported. 

     The soldiers were working "around a weapons cache" when the explosion occurred, the military reported. 

     Spokesmen for Central Command and the Pentagon offered no further details about the incident, saying that American authorities in Afghanistan were still investigating. It remained unclear whether the casualties were caused by an accident or hostile fire. 

     The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the 452nd Combat Support Hospital at Bagram Air Base. The soldiers' names were being withheld pending notification of relatives. 

     Despite the presence of some 11,000 American troops in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials believe that members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban are using the mountainous areas of Afghanistan to mount attacks on American forces there. 

     A delegation from the United Nations Security Council that traveled to Afghanistan last November reported that terrorism, drug-related crime and factional fighting threatened to reverse advances in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and were jeopardizing efforts to form a democratic government. 

     Also in November, in another bloody incident involving American troops, at least five American soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed Bagram Air Base north of Kabul

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