NYPD detective among 6 U.S. troops killed in Taliban suicide attack near Kabul

On Monday, a suicide attacker drove an explosives-laden motorcycle into a military convoy near Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, Afghanistan, killing six U.S. service members and wounding two others, U.S. officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. It was the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan since August, and struck as the Taliban is on the offensive, notably making a military push to capture Helmand province, a center of the opium poppy fields that help fund the Taliban's insurgency. Among the U.S. troops killed was New York Police Detective Joseph Lemm, 45, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said late Monday. Lemm was serving his third tour as part of the Air National Guard.

"The United States condemns this cowardly attack on members of the U.S. and Afghan forces, and we remain committed to supporting the Afghan people and their government," the White House said in a statement. Before Monday's attack at least 15 U.S. troops and six other members of the NATO coalition had been killed in Afghanistan this year.

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