Afghanistan attack kills 6 NATO troops

Six NATO service members and two Afghan soldiers were killed Sunday after insurgents blew up a minibus next to a small outpost in southern Afghanistan, the international alliance said.

NATO did not specify the nationality of its casualties,butthe New York Times reported that sixAmericans died in the attack on the mud-walled building near the village of Sangsar.

Theexplosives were detonated atthe entrance of a joint NATO-Afghan base in the Khari district of Kandahar province, where coalition forces have intensified their fight withTaliban insurgents.

Most NATO troops in southern Afghanistan come from the United States, although there are contingents from several nations, including Canada,in the area.

The bombingcomesdays before U.S. President Barack Obama unveils his administration's reviewof its Afghanistan war strategy. Last year, Obama announced he would be sending 30,000 American reinforcements in a bid to reverse gains by the Taliban since they were ousted from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Fighting has increased in southern Afghanistan asU.S. troops have poured into Helmand and Kandahar provinces this year in an attempt to push the Taliban out of their traditional strongholds.

More than 670 international troops have been killed so far this year, well above the 502 killed in the whole of 2009.

6 Americans killed late last month

Sunday's attack was the second incident in two weeks to kill so many service members. On Nov. 29, an Afghan policeman turned his gun on his American trainers in the east, killing six of them before he was gunned down. The Taliban claimed that they had sent him to join the police as a sleeper agent. Before that, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a Nov. 14 insurgent attack on their unit in eastern Afghanistan.

Also Sunday, NATO said a joint NATO-Afghan force killed a Taliban leader and captured a key member of another militant group in the east.

The Taliban leader was involved in weapons smuggling and attacks in eastern Wardak province, according to a statement. NATO identified him only by his first name, Fedahi.

Two men threatened the troops as they entered a compound Saturday night where they had heard Fedahi was staying. They shot and killed both men and one was later identified as Fedahi, the statement said. The coalition statement said no civilians were harmed in the operation.

In a separate raid in eastern Khost province Saturday night, NATO and Afghan troops captured a leader for the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Taliban faction closely tied to al-Qaeda.

The troops captured the targeted militant in a compound in Terayzai district, according to a statement. The detainee, it said, has conducted bomb attacks and ambushes against Afghan and coalition troops.