KABUL - Militants killed 17 road workers in Afghanistan's lawless south Tuesday, part of a spike in violence that left 40 people dead over two days.
Sixteen other construction workers were wounded in the attack in Zabul's Shinkay district, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Afghan and international security forces responding to the ambush killed seven militants and wounded 12, he said.
Road-building is a key part of Afghan reconstruction and many projects are in remote, insurgency-plagued areas. Militants have targeted work crews in roadside bomb attacks, ambushes and kidnappings. In January, militants in eastern Nuristan province beheaded four road construction workers.
The 40-nation military alliance in Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to contain the growing insurgency and the U.S. now has some 32,000 troops in the country, the most since the 2001 American-led invasion. Last year was the deadliest since the invasion, with more than 8,000 people killed, mostly militants, the U.N. says.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate have warned the Bush administration that Washington hasn't committed enough troops or aid money to Afghanistan, even as it poured resources into Iraq.
"The negligent policies of the last half-decade have permitted al-Qaida and the Taliban to regenerate and to pose a greater threat to the national security of the United States than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001," said the letter, which was dated Sunday.
Afghanistan has become a virtual narco-state where drug-fueled corruption and warlords are "recreating the chaos that enabled the Taliban to seize power in the 1990s," the Democrats wrote. Forty-six senators signed on, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Denmark said Tuesday it will add 50-75 personnel to its contingent in Afghanistan and two to four reconnaissance helicopters to help Danish forces spot roadside bombs and other threats.
Denmark has about 600 troops serving in the NATO force in Afghanistan, with most of them based in the volatile Helmand province.
In violence elsewhere Tuesday, a Polish soldier died and one was wounded when a NATO patrol hit a roadside bomb in Ghazni province, next to Zabul, Poland's Defense Ministry said.
In southern Uruzgan province, militants attacked a police convoy Monday, and the ensuing clash left 13 insurgents dead and five wounded, said Bashary.
In the western province of Herat, Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint Monday in Shindand district, killing two police officers and wounding another, said Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the western region police.
Most Afghan police are poorly trained and equipped, leaving them vulnerable. Authorities say that more than 900 police were killed in insurgent attacks last year.
