Sunday, August 02, 2009 KABUL: Following the bloodiest month for foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan, foreign officials announce the death of four more US-led soldiers in the war-ravaged country. Senior US military officials in Kabul confirmed that three American troops were killed on Saturday when a roadside explosion ripped through an army convoy in the troubled southern Kandahar Province. More than two hundred foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year. A Saturday statement by the French military confirms that a French soldier was also killed in deadly clashes with Taliban militants north of Kabul. Two other soldiers were wounded in the clashes. Deaths among US-led NATO troops have also soared this year, particularly in the insurgency-hit southern and eastern provinces where deadly fighting is ongoing. Seventy-four foreign troops -- including 43 Americans -- have so far been killed in militant attacks across Afghanistan during the five past weeks. July was the deadliest month for international forces since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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