3 soldiers killed in Afghan attack were from Ohio

Wounded U.S. soldiers lie on the ground at the scene of a suicide attack in Maimanah, the capital of Faryab province north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. A suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least 10 people, including three NATO service members, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks as spring fighting season gets under way. A senior U.S. defense official has confirmed that two U.S. soldiers were among three NATO forces killed in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Gul Buddin Elham)

Wounded U.S. soldiers lie on the ground at the scene of a suicide attack in Maimanah, the capital of Faryab province north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. A suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least 10 people, including three NATO service members, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks as spring fighting season gets under way. A senior U.S. defense official has confirmed that two U.S. soldiers were among three NATO forces killed in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Gul Buddin Elham)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? Three U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide attack this week in Afghanistan were from Ohio, as were several others seriously wounded in the bombing, the Ohio National Guard said Thursday.

The soldiers killed in the attack Wednesday in Maimanah, the capital of Faryab province, were from the Guard's 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to the Ohio Adjutant General's Department.

The unit includes soldiers from across Ohio, the Guard said.

The attack, by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle, killed at least 13 people Wednesday at a park in a relatively peaceful area of northern Afghanistan. It was part of an increase in violence at the start of the spring fighting season.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility. The bomber's target was unclear.

The infantry brigade has six battalions, with four based in Ohio and two in Michigan. It sent 3,600 soldiers to Afghanistan last summer for what was scheduled to be a year-long deployment.

It was the largest mobilization for the 37th since the Korean War, according to the Ohio National Guard. The soldiers were sent to help with counter-insurgency operations and work with Afghan security forces.

In 2005, Lima Company, a Columbus-based Marine reserve unit, lost 22 Marines and a Navy Corpsman in Iraq, including nine in one bombing. Fifteen of the 23 were from Ohio.

The names of the dead soldiers have not been released; the Guard said it is still notifying family members.

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Seewer reported from Toledo.

Associated Press

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