Fierce Afghan Battle Claims Lives of Eight U.S. Soldiers

In a fierce and tightly coordinated onslaught, insurgents attacked a pair of remote American outposts, killing eight U.S. troops in an area of the country soon slated to be largely abandoned by Western forces, military officials said today.

The raid in Nuristan province near the Pakistan border, which took place Saturday at dawn, was one of the deadliest attacks on American forces in the course of the war, now entering its ninth year. At least two members of the Afghan security forces were killed as well, Western military officials said.

The Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the attack, but NATO's International Security Assistance Force blamed "tribal militia." However, there is often a blurry line between so-called "local Taliban" and insurgents who are commanded from outside the area.

8 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan [Los Angeles Times]