Four U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan, making them the first U.S. casualties of the war in the New Year, military officials said.

The four were killed Sunday in the violence-plagued southern region of the country but the location was not given, the Los Angeles Times reported. Their deaths come days after seven U.S. Central Intelligence Agency agents died in a suicide bomb attack.

A British soldier also was killed Sunday in a separate explosion also in the south.

Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama announced ordering an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

A Taliban commander told the BBC with more U.S. troops in Afghanistan, more of them would die.