An Army staff sergeant who was killed in Afghanistan and listedas being from Lompoc apparently has no links to the city, but isbeing remembered by San Diego-area friends and family.

U.S. forces lost 22 soldiers in Afghanistan , mostly to roadside bombs, since Friday, marking a bloody step-up in the insurgency as a major U.S.-led offensive seeks to capture the spiritual homeland of the Taliban movement in Kandahar .

I found this posted at BIZ.YAHOO.COM on Wednesday.

"Afghanistan and Turkmenistan say they remain committed to building a long-delayed pipeline to pump natural gas south to Pakistan and India, in spite of the ongoing Taliban insurgency."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - U.S. forces lost 22 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly to roadside bombs, since Friday, marking a bloody step-up in the insurgency as a major U.S.-led offensive seeks to capture the spiritual homeland of the Taliban movement in Kandahar.