The war that keeps on taking...

Four American soldiers were killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in southern Afghanistan. In a separate attack, two employees of the United States Embassy were injured when their convoy was hit by an explosion west of the capital, Kabul.

In southern Afghanistan, a religious cleric and another man were killed outside a district mosque in the latest in a series of attacks on pro-government clergy by suspected Taliban insurgents.

Today's attack brings to 65 the number of American soldiers who have died in Afghanistan this year, making 2005 the deadliest year for the United States military in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. A total of 181 American soldiers have died in Operation Enduring Freedom in and around Afghanistan since military operations began in October 2001, more than 100 of them in hostile attacks.