Six U.S. troops were killed when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. The attack, the deadliest against American forces this year, made 2007 the worst for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.
The troops were returning from a meeting with village elders late Friday afternoon in Nuristan province when militants attacked them with rocket propelled grenades and gunfire, Lt. Col. David Accetta told The Associated Press.

The six deaths brings the total number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to at least 101 - the deadliest year for Americans here since the 2001 invasion, a war initially launched to oust Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, but one that has evolved into an increasingly bloody counterinsurgency campaign.